Erling Haaland has dubbed Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola a "football freak" and praised his manager's tactics after a stellar start to the new Premier League season.
The Norwegian striker has wasted precious little time in settling in at the Etihad, bagging a remarkable 12 goals in his opening eight games for the club. His haul includes Premier League hat-tricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
Signed for what now looks to be a bargain fee of £51million from Borrusia Dortmund in the summer, Haaland has already set Premier League records but has also admitted it has taken him some time to fully adhere to his manager's instructions on the pitch.
The striker actually compared Guardiola's views on football to his own, telling Telemundo Deportes : "I think he's a kind of a bit of a football freak like me. We both love football and yeah, he was a player now he's a manager and yeah, he's crazy about football and this is something I like because he thinks of everything in football, and how you can do things better, and this is what I like about [him].
"It's been good so far [settling in]. You can see with the goals and how we've been playing. It's a really complicated system and I've been going in the team and trying to get it [the tactics] as quick as I can because there is no time.
"I cannot waste time doing anything else. So I've been trying to go into into the team as quick as I can. It's a nice system, a really complicated system, but it's really nice."
Haaland bagged a brace during his first outing in the English top-flight against West Ham and has barely looked back since, scoring at least one in five of the six league games City have played so far this term.
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The 22-year-old has managed to carry his fine form in front of goal over to European competition as well, adding another two to his overall tally away at Sevilla last week on matchday one of the Champions League.
Many of the Etihad faithful are hopeful that Haaland can prove to be the difference that will get them over the line in European club football's most elite tournament this season.
Guardiola's men have come close in recent years, losing 1-0 to Chelsea in the 2021 final before a memorable late capitulation against eventual-winners Real Madrid in last season's semi-final. Haaland's first showing on the continental stage in a City shirt has only increased hope he can fire the club to the one trophy that has eluded them under Guardiola, who won two Champions League titles with Barcelona.
