Manchester City’s manager, Josep Guardiola, weighed in on the playing styles of two football icons by comparing his club’s striker Erling Haaland with Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lionel Messi.
Guardiola acknowledged that no one can match Messi’s historic consistency, but he suggested that Haaland shares the same scoring drive and mentality. He noted that Messi has maintained elite output for well over a decade, while Haaland is delivering goals at a comparably high rate, season after season.
Haaland has been finding the back of the net with remarkable regularity, something Guardiola highlighted as an indicator of the player’s growing impact in big competitions as well as domestic matches. The coach emphasized that Haaland’s goal hunger and perseverance could bring similar levels of achievement, provided the young forward continues refining his game.
Guardiola added that it would be exciting to see Erling push his career toward Messi’s remarkable standard. Achieving that benchmark would be a notable milestone for Haaland and would bolster the team’s aspirations, according to the coach’s remarks reported by ESPN.
In the current English Premier League season, Haaland has appeared in thirty league fixtures, contributing thirty-four goals and seven assists. His record in European competition has been equally impressive, with twelve more goals and a single assist across eight Champions League matches, underscoring his growing influence on the continental stage.
Messi, meanwhile, has accumulated fifteen goals and fifteen assists over twenty-seven appearances in Ligue 1 this campaign. Messi’s peak form remains a reference point, with his extraordinary 2011/12 season standing out as a historic benchmark when he tallied fifty goals in thirty-seven La Liga matches.
Recent developments have seen discussions around Messi’s future with Barcelona, with reports suggesting the club views his departure as a turning point in its strategic plans and a potential prelude to a return in the right circumstances.