Ilkay Gundogan has defended Erling Haaland and insisted that he is a good fit for Manchester City after Jamie Carragher suggested that the Norwegian forward may have "picked the wrong club" last week.
Haaland has plundered 25 goals in 20 Premier League matches since joining the champions - meaning he has already eclipsed the tally of last year's joint Golden Boot winners Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min.
But although Haaland has been impressive in front of goal, Manchester City have looked far from their fluent best with the former Borussia Dortmund star leading the line. Last weekend's defeat against Tottenham means City have already lost four games this term - one more than they lost in the entire 2021/22 campaign.
Speaking after the match, Carragher claimed that City are not getting the best out of Haaland and also suggested that City were a "lesser team" with an out and out No.9 after fending off significant rival interest to land the sought-after striker in the summer.
Carragher told Sky Sports: "He [Haaland] may've actually picked the wrong club to actually get the best out of him. You're laughing [Micah Richards], but we're not seeing everything of Erling Haaland, and Manchester City now, not because of Erling Haaland, we can say they're a different team, but they've scored exactly the same amount of goals.
"He's scored 25 Premier League goals, but Man City as a team have scored the same amount of goals, and they're conceding more, and it's far easier to counter attack them as well, so they're a different team, and a lesser team with Erling Haaland in the team."
But Gundogan has hit back at those claims and scotched talk that Haaland has made Manchester City a worse team by pointing to the 22-year-old's remarkable goalscoring record.
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When he was asked about those suggestions, the Germany international, who has been an influential figure at the Etihad Stadium since joining the club back in 2016 told Sky Sports Germany : “If you score 25 goals in 20 games, you fit into a team!
“Our game has become a bit different because of Erling’s qualities. Both he and the team have to adjust to that. We’ve already had outstanding games in this campaign, and I can remember that a few weeks ago everything was hyped up.”
Manchester City have plenty of work to do if they are to chase Arsenal down - but Gundogan has insisted that nobody at the club is panicking.
He added: “It’s important for us to stay calm. We have to realise that we weren’t good enough in the last few games – that goes for everyone. Everyone has to look in the mirror and know that they have to step it up a notch. If we want to close the gap to Arsenal, we can’t afford any more mistakes.”
