‘Unbelievable’ Haaland is at the level of Messi and Ronaldo, says Man City’s Silva

It is not often manager Pep Guardiola heaps praise on individual players at Manchester City, certainly not to the extent where he might put them in the same category as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

This is especially true of comparisons with the former, a player who helped Guardiola to many of his greatest managerial triumphs at Barcelona. The Argentine forward, who hit 73 goals for Barca in all competitions during the 2011-12 season, is the greatest player of all-time, according to the City boss.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo’s highest tally for a season, meanwhile, was 61 for Real Madrid in 2014-15, and he has consistently rivaled Messi in terms of standing and statistics.

While constantly demanding his team strive to achieve more, Guardiola usually tends to temper expectations when it comes to individual achievements. Yet as City prepare for Arsenal’s visit to the Etihad on Wednesday for what is surely a pivotal meeting between the Premier League’s top two sides, Erling Haaland’s 48 goals in 42 matches during his debut season for the Sky Blues cannot be ignored or brushed aside.

The 22-year-old’s remarkable statistics have prompted much debate about just how good he is and whether he might reach the heights of football icons such as Messi, 35, and Al-Nassr’s 38-year-old forward, Ronaldo.

City team-mate Bernardo Silva, who plays alongside Ronaldo for Portugal, said Haaland has the “Midas Touch” and everything he touches turns to goal, rather than gold.

“The goal figures, it’s unbelievable; it’s Cristiano and Messi level, that amount of goals,” Silva said, speaking exclusively to Arab News. “Hopefully Erling can keep going that way because we need his goals until the last game of the season.

“He has