The 'best in the world' striker Haaland modelled his game on

Stuart Telford

• 15 Apr 2023 15:16 BST
• 3 min read

Erling Haaland may be tearing up the record books with his goalscoring feats, but Manchester City's opponents on Saturday Leicester have an idol of his in Jamie Vardy.

Haaland has raced to 30 goals in 27 Premier League appearances since joining City from Borussia Dortmund in a €60 million transfer last summer, adding another 15 in all competitions.

That total haul of 45 is the most ever scored by a Premier League player in a single season, and there could still be 15 games left to play at home and abroad this term.

READ: Haaland will 'obliterate' Premier League goal record says Shearer

That Haaland's transfer value is now €141.1m per FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm and he is perennially linked to Real Madrid should be of little surprise.

But perhaps harder to predict might have been that he modelled his game in Vardy - not that Leicester's former England forward isn't an excellent player.

'Best in the world in Jamie Vardy'

"Not studying, but I've been watching a lot of players," Haaland told Sky Sports last year when still at Dortmund.

READ: Wenger: I offered Vardy a lot of money to join Arsenal

"Let's take an example, the run-in behind the centre-back when the No.10 has the ball. You maybe have the best in the world at that in Jamie Vardy, I've been looking a lot at him on exactly this.

"That's how I am, I've always been watching a lot of football. I still do. When we play on Saturday, I go home and on Sunday I watch football all day. I've always liked football a lot."

City and Leicester go head-to-head at the Etihad on Saturday evening, with Vardy no longer guaranteed to start for the Foxes.

Vardy struck 24 times as Leicester shocked English football with their Premier League title win in 2016, but has only bagged one top-flight goal this time around. He is still valued at €11.9m per FootballTransfers, however.