MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland may be on a record-breaking scoring pace, but Manchester City’s prized striker insists he is focusing on team success as he prepares to face his former club Borussia Dortmund in Wednesday’s Champions League clash.
The 25-year-old Norwegian has netted 26 goals in just 16 appearances for club and country this season, putting him on track to surpass his own personal best of 57 goals in a single campaign.
“I am in a good way (to breaking that) but I don’t think of this. We need to focus on tomorrow and that’s how my brain works. I need to think in the present,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Does he think Alan Shearer’s Premier League scoring record of 260 goals is within reach?
“I have to ignore (records),” Haaland reiterated. “Thinking about records I can break is the last thing on my mind, I try to help the team win football games. That is my main focus.”
He also scoffed at comparisons to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, saying “no one can get close to those two.”
He similarly shrugged off manager Pep Guardiola’s compliments about
how humble he is.
“I am a Norwegian guy and I shouldn’t think I am something because I am scoring goals,” he said. “I am just Erling and this is something that will never change.”
Haaland is also keen to take Norway into the 2026 World Cup. They last qualified in 1998, two years before he was born. Norway top Group I of qualifying and a win against Estonia on November 13 could secure them a berth.
“There’s big, big few games for us,” he said of the international fixtures. “The main goal of my career, (is) to take Norway to World Cup and now I have a good chance to do it. So, it’s about taking the chances.”
The striker also spoke candidly about how becoming a dad last December has brought him more “balance.”