Marina Izidro: How far can Erling Haaland go?

Liverpool are moving further and further away from the Premier League title fight. Of course, Jürgen Klopp’s competent team should never be underestimated, but at an uncomfortable ninth place in the table, they are 11 points behind leaders Arsenal, without Sadio Mané and with Mohamed Salah having only scored twice in the Premier League.

To give you an idea, last season the Egyptian was the competition’s top scorer with 23, equaling Tottenham’s Son Heung-min. As there is practically no margin of error in the most disputed league in the world, for now the Gunners and Manchester City, in second in the table, are candidates to win.

City are always favourites, but now they have a reinforcement that takes the team to another level. Erling Haaland arrived three months ago and feels right at home. There are already 19 goals scored – 14 in just eight matches in the Premier League and another five in the Champions League. Not only is the list of records that the Norwegian can break impressive, but the speed with which he is getting close to them.

He was the first to score three hat-tricks in consecutive home games – one of them in the 6-3 rout of rivals Manchester United. Haaland was also the fastest to do so in the league, as now runner-up Michael Owen took 48 games to score all three.

Premier League goalscoring records in the same season, Andy Cole’s 34 (1993/1994) at Newcastle and Alan Shearer’s (1994/1995) at Blackburn Rovers, look set to be beaten. At the time, the championship had 42 rounds. In the current format, with 38 rounds, the brand belongs to Salah, who in 2017/2018 scored 32. For now, there is no doubt that, keeping in good physical shape and hungry for goals, Haaland will pass the Egyptian.

Here in England, another record is already being considered, that of 60 goals by Everton legend Dixie Dean, something never achieved in almost a hundred years. The National Football Museum in Manchester describes it this way: “In the 1927/28 season, 21-year-old William Ralph ‘Dixie’ Dean achieved a record 60 goals for Everton in just 39 games. broke”. Of course, the deposition was written before another boy got here. Apart from the marks he can beat in the Champions League if he continues at this pace.

Rival fans even created an internet petition with the title: “Get Haaland out of the UK”. The page says that “Haaland is a serious problem, appears out of nowhere and ruins the weekends of hard working people in this great nation.” “We need to solve this problem to protect the mental health of millions in our society. If things don’t change, they will get worse. This guy is nine goals away from equaling last season’s top scorers. This is a lack of respect for the system.” says the author of the petition. It’s impossible not to find it funny, and almost no one took it seriously. As of the time of writing this column, just over a hundred people have joined the “protest”.

Remembering that Haaland is not going to the World Cup, because Norway did not qualify, and will be able to have a break to rest. He has a reputation for being dedicated, and the working conditions couldn’t be better. He has already said that he is happy to play for City, he is coached by Pep Guardiola, one of the best managers on the planet at a club where there is no shortage of money. With each match, he makes the football world wonder how far this 22-year-old phenomenon can go.