Pep Guardiola: "Haaland is on the same page as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi"

Haaland marked his return from injury with two goals as Manchester City kept up their pursuit of Arsenal with a 4-1 win at Southampton and Pep Guardiola has unlimited praises for him.

Haaland stole the show, summed up by a second goal which was a devastating acrobatic finish to take his tally for the season to 30 Premier League goals and 44 in all competitions. He is just five goals away from breaking Andy Cole (93/94) and Alan Shearer's (94/95) Premier League record of 34 goals in a single season.

When asked if Haaland is now at the levels associated with Ronaldo and Messi, Pep Guardiola replied: "In terms of the thesis of scoring goals. He's quite similar in terms of Cristiano but Messi is the more complete player. Messi can play wherever while Cristano and Erling are machines. Erling knows those two guys dominated over two decades not just one or two seasons, winning titles and doing everything.

"Football is a better place for Cristano and Messi for what they have done for our business, the traction of these two guys competing at the big clubs.

"Erling is arriving in the toughest league in the world. I can talk as I've been in other leagues and doing what he has done is remarkable.

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"Erling is here for these types of games, it was a little bit hard but he has the ability from an incredible assist from Kevin to break the game."

Pep Guardiola did admit his young striker still has work to do to be bracketed with the two modern greats, citing his freakish build as a potential barrier to staying fit for long periods.

He said: "He is so competitive but to reach the Cristano and Messi levels is a lot of work. They don't get injured. Erling is tall, he's huge, he needs a lot of care, physios, not just one but a lot of people.

"He has an incredible mindset. His head is in the right place. He lives to be professional. I know his reaction when he misses goals but he's only frustrated for five minutes. His mindset comes back in the right position and he knows what he has to do.

Pep Guardiola also added, "He has the same pressure as Messi and Cristiano - when they don't score for two or three games, people ask what's happened. The numbers he has at his age are unbelievable."