Haaland like a Sunday League player, says Man Utd legend

Suraj Radia

• 10 Oct 2022 15:40 BST
• 4 min read

Rio Ferdinand has admitted he was wrong to doubt Erling Haaland and compared the Manchester City striker’s goal output to that of a Sunday League player.

Haaland has began life in the Premier League by scoring at an unprecedented level, netting his 20th goal of the season against Southampton after just 12 appearances in all competitions.

Ferdinand was one of a number of pundits who questioned whether Haaland would be able to dominate in England after he signed from Dortmund in the summer but the former Manchester United legend was quick to take back his scepticism.

Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand said: “People said he would get 35 goals and I said ‘oh that’s going to be tough’ but we were going off history, no one knew what he would do.

“I’m a big enough man to admit this guy is doing different bits now, it's crazy what he’s doing, it’s unheard of.”

“It's stupid really. It’s like a Sunday League player overage,” Ferdinand added. “He is doing that in the Premier League. People said he was only doing it in Germany.

“I was only concerned about one thing about him coming here and that was can he score his type of goals (for City). When you look at his showreel a lot of his goals were running onto things, on the break and in transitions.

"At City they have possession all the time, teams are sat back. Can he find the the gaps and spaces? That’s about instinct and understanding of the game. But he said ‘do not question me ever again because I do it.’”

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Ferdinand questions Haaland’s ability to match Ronaldo and Messi

Ferdinand was speaking on BT Sport’s Premier League Tonight show but, despite his praise, the former England defender and the TV panel claimed Haaland may not be able to match the long-term success of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo scored his 700th career goal in United’s game against Everton and Paris Saint-Germain forward Messi is just behind on 691 while Haaland’s strike against Southampton was his 175th.

Ferdinand said: “We talk about legends but none of them sustained this level of greatness for this amount of time. It’s mind boggling.

“We are seeing Haaland and (Kylian) Mbappe but they won’t reach it. It shows you the levels we are talking about.”