Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has suggested that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland reminds him of veteran attacker Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Norwegian striker has scored 14 goals in eight Premier League matches since his summer switch from Borussia Dortmund, which has included three hat-tricks - the most recent of which came against United in the derby on Sunday afternoon.
Pep Guardiola's side secured a 6-3 win over their rivals at the Etihad Stadium, with England international Phil Foden also grabbing a hat-trick for the home side as City ran riot against Erik ten Hag's side.
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Haaland once again demonstrated why he was so highly sought-after in the summer transfer window with a spectacular performance against United, and ex-Reds defender Neville believes he has taken the reigning Premier League champions to another level. The Sky Sports pundit also compared the 22-year-old to a number of legendary figures.
Speaking on The Gary Neville podcast after the match, the 47-year-old suggested that Haaland shares similarities with Brazilian legend Ronaldo.
"When you spoke about this Manchester City team last season and what it was missing, I don’t know if it was [Jamie] Carragher mentioned Twitter said if Gabriel Jesus was playing for Manchester City how he is for Arsenal, would City have signed Haaland?" said Neville.
"Gabriel Jesus has been brilliant and I love him to pieces, I loved him when he was here and now at Arsenal but this is a different stratosphere of player - that’s not a criticism of Jesus - this is a Zidane, the Brazilian Ronaldo, the Portuguese Ronaldo, those types of players who I played against throughout my career that I thought was another level, that’s what we’re seeing here. Something that’s just right up there
"I’m a United fan, I’m disappointed with what I’ve seen today - but you sometimes see a player that stands out above everything else and we’ve seen that today. He took this game by the scruff of the neck.
"That’s the ability he has to take the game away on his own, the great players do, they have the ability to pull a game back - that you think they’re never going to come back to - to a game that’s 1-0 then all of a sudden it’s 4-0.
"I went down and asked how many touches he had had and it was the least number of touches in the City team - which wasn’t a surprise to time - that’s become the norm now. I don’t know what to say, the words to describe him. This Manchester City team were already a brilliant team but with him in it they’re so dangerous but so much more exciting because they can score different goals."
Since his summer move from Germany, Haaland has scored 17 goals in 11 matches in all competitions, including three times in two matches in the Champions League.
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