What Makes Erling Haaland the Premier League’s Best Striker?

Erling Haaland – what more can you say about him that hasn’t already been said.

The forward is arguably the best player in the world at the moment. Manchester City’s forward has been dominating the sport. He can easily do what is widely considered the hardest part of the game, and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

Admittedly, there are games in which he doesn’t quite have the desired impact, but his club can usually get around that. They have the quality through the squad to make do and not be too reliant on him. However, he is an exceptional player to be reliant upon when called upon.

So far this season, he already has 10 Premier League goals in six games. Former City player, Cole Palmer, is next with the six he has netted for Chelsea this term. In terms of overall figures, the Norwegian has 100 goals for the Cityzens since moving to the club, playing just 105 games. Of the 100, 73 of those have come in the league.

Best striker in Premier League history?

Is Haaland already cementing himself as the best striker that the Premier League has ever seen? If he hasn’t already, he is well on the way.

Of course, many strikers throughout the league’s history can be considered among the greatest. Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Alan Shearer, Sergio Aguero, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke can all be in the conversation. Ruud van Nistlerooy, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Didier Drogba, and Ian Wright can all argue their places, as can Eric Cantona and Dennis Bergkamp.

However, can any of them claim to have been as impactful as Haaland? It’d be a very hard topic to debate successfully.

The Norwegian has been emphatic, and the fact that he has been as prolific as he has been is wild. Given that he has managed 73 goals in the league and has just started his third season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he were to smash past 100 before its conclusion. Indeed, the newest Premier League odds suggest that he will be the top goalscorer in the league once again, with a price as small as 1.10 already (Palmer is next at 13.00, with Mohamed Salah at 15.00).

As mentioned, he is already four ahead of his closest rival. Man City play to his strengths and it would be a shock if that gap hadn’t started to widen even further by the turn of the year.

Can Haaland secure the all-time Premier League goals record?

Alan Shearer holds the current Premier League record. During his 14 Premier League seasons (not counting the years before its formation), he managed to score a total of 260 goals in 441 appearances. Only Kane has been the closest, but he was still 47 away. Rooney is the only other player in PL history to have reached the 200 mark, having netted 208 during his career for Manchester United and Everton.

That’s an incredible feat, and one that many believe would remain forever. To put Shearer’s record in some context, he scored at an average of 0.59. It’s not the best, as Henry scored 175 goals in 258 appearances (0.68), Kane netted 213 in 320 matches (0.67), and Aguero scored 184 in 275 (also 0.67). Salah is the only active player better than Shearer in terms of ratio, having netted 161 in 269 matches (0.60).

That’s only when you consider the players that have managed to net 100 goals as a minimum. As revealed, Haaland has 73 goals, but those have come in 72 games. That’s just over one goal a game on average (1.01). It would be unreasonable to think that any player can keep that kind of record going.

However, when you think about the Norwegian forward, it suddenly doesn’t become that unreasonable. The scary thing is that he is still only 24. He has many years left at the top of the game, and should he manage to remain the Premier League and keep fit, there is every chance that he could break a record that once looked impossible to ever beat.