(CNN Spanish) — It is called a robot. They nickname him “Android”. He is the new great soccer idol after the Messi-CR7 era. He is a record breaker. Erling Haaland arrived at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to boost their scoring prowess and has not only exceeded the expectations of many, but is breaking the unthinkable in club football.
52 goals in the season
The 22-year-old Norwegian, who stands 1.95 meters tall and is the son of Leeds and Manchester City defender Alf-Inge Holland, joined the England squad in 2022 from Borussia Dortmund. This season he scored 36 goals in the Premier League, 12 in the Champions League, 3 in the FA Cup and one in the EFL Cup. A total of 52 goals In 52 games played.
He is yet to play in a Champions League final and is in England’s Premier and FA Cup champions in his first season. What is your ceiling?
Holland’s record in the Champions League
Holland has scored 35 goals in 35 Champions League games. He’s only played four seasons and already holds the position 19 on the all-time scorers list champions league, Registered by UEFA. He beat the likes of Kaká, Antoine Griezmann, Wayne Rooney and Samuel Eto’o.
He has scored eight goals (in six games played in the competition) for FC Red Bull Salzburg, 15 goals (in 13 games) for Borussia Dortmund and 12 goals in nine games for City.
He is the top scorer in the current season with 12 scores and will play in the final. Mohamed Salah is next with 8 goals.
30 goals in the Champions League Only 25 matches are required, a huge feat if one takes into account that other top scorers don’t come close: Lionel Messi needed 48 games to reach that figure, Cristiano Ronaldo 74. Only Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has 30 touchdowns in 42 games, comes close.
Premier in history
In the local championship, Holland destroyed the scoring record in his first season. He has scored 36 goals in 35 games. Crazy when you consider that the previous record, 34 goals in a season, was held by Andy Cole (1993/94 season) and Alan Shearer (1994/94) when league seasons lasted 42 games. The current edition of the Premier League is 38 games long, and Manchester City have clinched the championship before the end of the tournament.
New Global Idol: Comparison with Messi and Cristiano
Holland leads 208 goals in his carer. Comparisons with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are interesting: Messi was wearing Holland at his current age (22 years and 11 months). According to the newspaper, 114 goals and CR7 only 68 Ace.
He is aiming to break more records in the Champions League (35 for Hollande, compared to 20 for Messi and 7 for Cristiano at the same age). It remains to be seen whether he can match the brilliance of the Argentines and Portuguese, who have continued to display unrivaled football well past the age of 30, in maturity.
With Norway, the same situation: Holland has scored 21 goals, while Messi has 9 with Argentina and Cristiano 11 in Portugal.
Kylian Mbappe, now 24 years old, is the most dominant contemporary in football. But the comparison also turns in the Norwegian’s favor: when he was 22, Mbappé He had scored 131 goals.
For all three
Holland and Manchester City have the chance to win the treble this season: they won the FA Cup against their backyard rivals Manchester United; They once again destroyed the Premier League, pipping Arsenal and playing favorites against Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
The Norwegian arrived at Guardiola’s Manchester City, a team that had more control of the ball than the massive goals before and changed the plan: with a more direct game. Already a regular in the Premier League (five titles in six years), City have a task at hand: the Champions League. In 2021 they lost the final against Chelsea and in 2022 they were knocked out by Real Madrid in the semi-finals. They already got their revenge against Spain.
Now the city has completed the task of achieving a historic treble. And with a record-breaking Holland, it looks possible.
With information from Andrew McNicol
