Harry Kane, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are goal machines, but Erling Haaland will be the greatest goalscorer ever
Erling Haaland will become the greatest goalscorer in football history ahead of Harry Kane, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
That’s the view of striker Bradley Wright-Phillips, although he insisted the Manchester City superstar isn’t the best player in the world.
Haaland is arguably one of the most clinical finishers to have graced a football pitch having racked up 333 goals for club and country.
The 25-year-old has netted 143 times for City, and totalled a stunning 55 in 48 appearances for the Norwegian national team.
He is also just one goal away from entering the Premier League 100 Club, with Alan Shearer’s record of 260 goals also in his sights.
And when speaking on talkSPORT Drive, former City and New York Red Bulls striker Wright-Phillips tipped Haaland to reach the very top.
“If we’re just going to talk about numbers, and this is what people do now, he’s going to be the very best,” he said, live in New York.
“There will be no better goalscorer than him for a long time, he’s unbelievable, he’s relentless.
“I’ve been on the pitch before Benty [Darren Bent], and obviously you played way higher than me so you had to have a different mentality…
“There’s times I scored a brace and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m good, you can get me out of here, I’m actually good.’ Haaland wants to score ten!”
Co-host Andy Goldstein asked if it matters if a striker scores one or two goals in a match, and that’s all that he does throughout.
“It doesn’t matter,” Wright-Phillips said: “Especially if you win, that’s why he’s there.
“We have technicians in the midfield, we’ve got guys that can head the ball, defenders, you’ve got different roles for everyone, that’s why it’s called a team.
“It’s called a team because everyone’s doing different parts to make this team go in one direction, Haaland’s job is to score goals.
“And by the way, for everyone saying he just score goals, his link-up play and all-round play has got a lot better, his hold-up play and everything has got a lot better.”
Haaland vs Kane, Messi and Ronaldo
Wright-Phillips was then asked if Haaland is the best striker on the planet, and quickly replied: “Yeah.”
Goldstein made a query about Kane, who is England’s record scorer on 78 goals and has tallied another 405 across five clubs.
“Oh yeah,” Wright-Phillips responded. “Sorry, that was crazy!
“Because now we’ve got to go into goalscorer… Just talking about goalscorer realms.
“Nah, Harry Kane, best all-round striker, best all-round no. 9. But he’s [Haaland] the best goalscorer.”
However, whilst Wright-Phillips celebrated Haaland’s quality in front of goal, he explained why he can’t be considered the world’s best.
“No, you can’t be the best player in the world just being a goalscorer,” no,” he said.
Goldstein then suggested footballing legend Ronaldo, who has a remarkable 954 career goals, but Wright-Phillips dismissed him.
“Ronaldo? CR7? No, no, come on,” he said in apparent shock. “Are you one of those people that thinks Ronaldo is better than Messi?”
For Wright-Phillips, it’s record eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi who meets the criteria to be called the best in the world.
The silky Argentine has reached 896 goals in all competitions for his clubs and country, but his style of play takes the cake.
“For me, it’s always the eye test,” Wright-Phillips clarified.
“I think to be the best player in the world, it’s got to look like Messi, it’s got to look like [Zinedine] Zidane, there’s got to be something else there.”
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