Erling Haaland: How does the striker compare to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo & Kylian Mbappe?
The Man City frontman was in scintillating form in front of goal during the 2022/23 season - but how does his scoring record compare to the tallies of some of football’s best marksmen when they were the same age as the Norwegian?
Football
In June 2022, Manchester City made one of the biggest moves of football's summer transfer window by signing Norwegian international Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £51m. Explaining his decision to join the reigning Premier League champions, Haaland said: "I have always watched City and have loved doing so in recent seasons. You can’t help but admire their style of play, it’s exciting and they create a lot of chances, which is perfect for a player like me.
“I want to score goals, win trophies, and improve as a footballer and I am confident I can do that here."
And score goals he did, pouring in an incredible 52 goals in 52 appearances in all competitions - including a record 36 goals in the Premier League alone - en route to helping Man City win their seventh Premier League title and seventh FA Cup.
Now, with the 2023 Champions League final quickly approaching, the 22-year-old has one last opportunity to add to his account for the season when the Cityzens face Internazionale on Saturday, 10 June.
Ahead of the biggest game in European club football, Olympics.com took an in-depth look at the goals Haaland has scored for club and country, comparing the stats to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe when all four players were the same age.
Haaland, Messi, Ronaldo and Mbappe - total games played before turning 23
Haaland made his professional debut in Norway's second tier with Bryne FK as a 15-year-old but was quickly snapped up by Molde the following year. He made the move to Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, and was then signed by Borussia Dortmund in December of that same year (Halaand scored a hat-trick on his debut on 18 January 2020). After two seasons with Dortmund, Haaland left for Manchester City, aged 21.
Mbappe became Monaco's youngest-ever first-team player when he made his professional debut for the Ligue 1 side aged 16 years and 347 days, breaking Thierry Henry's record set 21 years previously. Since then he has been an undroppable member of both Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team.
Messi made his breakthrough into Barcelona's senior side when he was 17, but only received consistent game time under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola, who of course now manages Haaland in Manchester.
Ronaldo made his debut for Sporting CP in a Champions League qualifier of all games aged 17 after previously training with the first team as a 16-year-old.
Haaland, Messi, Ronaldo and Mbappe - total goals scored before turning 23
Haaland only turns 23 in July, and yet the Norwegian has already scored 208 goals for club and country - a quite ridiculous total. The majority of his goals - 86 - came during three seasons with Borussia Dortmund, but, incredibly, the 1.94m (6 ft 4) striker is only 34 goals away from matching that tally after just one season with Manchester City. He still has some way to go to equal the totals of his esteemed competitors, however: Messi is currently sitting on 806 goals for his senior club and national career, Mbappe has 277 goals to his name, while Ronaldo has found the back of the net on 837 occasions.
Haaland has been similarly prolific in front of goal for Norway (Haaland, who was born in England, was eligible to play for the Three Lions but was steadfast in wanting to play for Løvene), scoring 21 goals in 23 games for the senior team.
With his birthday fast approaching (21 July), Haaland has one last opportunity to boost his incredible tally of 208 goals before he turns 23 - not to mention adding to his extensive trophy cabinet, which currently contains five pieces of silverware (German Cup, Austrian League champion, Premier League champion, FA Cup, Austrian Cup).