‘He gets 30+’ - Ex-Man City players back Erling Haaland to set Premier League scoring record

Former Manchester City players Owen Hargreaves and Joleon Lescott have said it’s a real possibility that Erling Haaland could set a new Premier League scoring record this season.

The striker has already netted 10 goals in six English top-flight matches, and could be in line to beat Mohamed Salah’s league high of 32 goals in a 38-game Premier League season, should Haaland maintain his ludicrous conversion rate.

He might even beat the 34 goals Andy Cole and Alan Shearer managed in campaigns during the mid-1990s, although those came in respective 42-match seasons.

Haaland’s scoring start to life at City has not been limited to the league, and the No.9 managed a brace as City beat Sevilla 4-0 on Tuesday in the Champions League, which brings his tally up to 12 in all competitions.

Speaking after the game on BT Sport, Hargreaves and Lescott both claimed the Norwegian would net more than 40 in his maiden season at the Etihad, before talk turned to whether he might set a new Premier League record.

“It’s 40+, isn’t it? As we’re talking, 12 in the first week of September. It has to be 40+,” said Hargreaves on BT Sport, following coverage of the Champions League game in Spain.

“Forty-five, I think [in all competitions]. I think he breaks the Premier League one. I think he gets 30+.”

“I think he’ll get 40s, early 40s,” Lescott added. “Yeah, I think he gets 30+ in the Premier League.”

A word of warning

Despite Lescott’s claims that Haaland can net over 40 goals this campaign, he opined that a lack of minutes could ultimately impact his scoring record, especially should Pep Guardiola choose to rest the 22-year-old.

That’s exactly what the City boss did in the latter stages in Seville, denying Haaland the chance to make it a hat-trick on his Champions League debut for the club.

“I think he can keep up the ratio, I just don’t know if he’s going to get the games because, when it comes to the second half of the season and the league potentially isn’t as important due to it being wrapped up and there are semi-finals of the Champions League, he may be rested for those games,” said the former City, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers centre-back.

“We saw today he came off. Yeah, he’s not going to score a hat-trick every game, but does he score more if he stays on? One hundred percent, but Pep’s thinking [about] the next game; this game is done.”