While Erling Haaland breaks records, Harry Kane keeps racking up the goals

Manchester City pushed hard to sign Harry Kane last year. Following the departure of Sergio Agüero to Barcelona, City wanted a new striker to fill the void in their frontline. Tottenham, though, did not budge in their demand that City pay £150m for the England captain. Kane wanted to go, but City did not up their offer and he remained at Spurs. The lack of a natural striker did not hold back City, who retained their Premier League title last season while scoring more goals (99) than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues.

So, of course City went out and signed goal machine Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund this summer. The Norwegian has wasted no time in acclimatising to the demands of Premier League football. In nine appearances, Haaland has scored 15 league goals – more than Manchester United, Chelsea and 11 other teams in the Premier League. Since the start of last season, only Kevin De Bruyne (16) has scored more league goals for City.

City’s failure to sign Kane was a sliding doors moment for both strikers. Fast forward a year and the Spurs forward is now chasing Haaland in the race for the golden boot. There has been plenty of focus on the 22-year-old and deservedly so given his incredible start to the season, yet his goals have meant Kane’s own performances this season have gone under the radar.

His first-half strike in Tottenham’s 1-0 win at Brighton on Saturday evening was his eighth goal in nine league games this season. Kane has scored in his last four league games – the joint-longest scoring streak of his career in the Premier League. His goal against Brighton was his 191st in the Premier League. He has overtaken Agüero (184) and Andy Cole (187) this season in the all-time list of top Premier League