Erling Haaland has had a stunning start to his Premier League career with Manchester City after making a move from Borussia Dortmund this summer. In his 11 appearances for the Citizens so far, Haaland has netted 17 goals already. That includes three hat-tricks as well, the last one of which came against rivals Manchester United last Sunday. 

The 22-year-old holds some stunning statistics to his name at the moment as he is scoring a goal every 54 minutes on average, has had 42 shots on target, and has assisted three times as well, all on top of his 17 goals. But Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola claims that Haaland is even greater than what the statistics suggest.

“At his age, no one can compete with him,” Guardiola said ahead of City’s Champions League match against FC Copenhagen.

“The numbers speak for themselves and inside, in the locker room, and on the pitch we see things that are not in the stats that make us feel happy to have him here,” he added.

Haaland also has 25 Champions League goals to his name in 26 games. He became the quickest to 25 goals in UCL history when he scored an acrobatic goal against his former club Borussia Dortmund three weeks ago. The youngster had scored 86 goals in 89 games during his stint with Dortmund.

Apart from Haaland, Guardiola also heaped praise on Phil Foden, another 22-year-old who also scored a hat-trick against Manchester United.

“He’s an exceptional player, he grew up a lot. Already he is many years with us, he’s reliable in terms of his physical condition, he’s so intense in everything, every three days he is able play,” Guardiola said.

“Both (Haaland and Foden), they know they can do better and hopefully they can do it,” he added.

City have already beaten Sevilla and Dortmund in their first two group games of the Champions League and now they can clear their path to the round of 16 with another win against Copenhagen at home this Wednesday.