Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo shared football’s spotlight for over a decade but as their time comes to an end, other stars are beginning to rise to that level of the game.
Kylian Mbappe has undoubtedly been the main man of this generation of talents so far, but Man City’s Erling Haaland is not far behind and showed so again on Saturday during City’s 4-1 win over Southampton.
The Norway international returned from injury to bag two goals, bringing his total up to 44, as he draws level with Mohamed Salah and Ruud van Nistelrooy for the most goals scored in a single campaign for a Premier League side in all competitions.
With potentially 16 games left to play this season, Haaland is certain to hold that record for himself.
Speaking about Haaland after his Southampton brace, Guardiola compared the 22-year-old to Lionel Messi and Ronaldo, stating that the striker is on their level.
“We have lived two incredible decades with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but he is on that level,” the City boss told BBC Sport via talkSPORT.
“The second goal was amazing. It is not easy to pick the ball up in the sky and put it on the grass.”
