Dietmar Hamann has claimed that the "jury is still out" on whether Manchester City can count summer signing Erling Haaland as a success.
The Norwegian has already scored 22 goals in all competitions, having played just 15 games this term. City paid £51million to sign Haaland from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window with the 21-year-old quickly proving himself to be one of the Premier League 's best strikers... if not it's outright No.1.
The deal is widely considered to be the best of the summer, given Haaland's stunning record so far. But former Liverpool star Hamann claiming remains unconvinced that Haaland will continue to be a success and whether City are better with him in their ranks.
The German also warned Pep Guardiola that the spending power he is able to call upon means he cannot be ranked among the Premier League's greatest managers yet. Instead, Hamann has insisted that he must first win the Champions League to break into that conversation.
"If you've got a player who scores 40 goals per season then of course you're dependent on him. Whether Man City are better off with him in the team we'll have to wait and see at the end of the season," he told BoyleSports.
"They haven't managed to win the Champions League and that's one of the reasons they signed Haaland. Even though Haaland has scored 15 or 16 goals already in the league, I think the jury is still out on whether he has improved Man City in the long term.
"Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger didn't have the spending power that Man City have. When Sir Alex was a manager, he was competing with at least four or five teams who had a chance of winning the league and that isn't the case anymore.
"Pep Guardiola has done fantastic things in the league but his mission isn't complete until he wins the Champions League. Until he wins that, I'd have to put Wenger and Sir Alex above him."
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Before he can prove himself to Hamann, Haaland will first have to recover from an injury he suffered in the draw with Dortmund in the Champions League. Guardiola is confident he will be fit in time to face Fulham on Saturday, though there is some uncertainty.
"He has ligament damage. He feels better, we have one more week. I am pretty sure against Sevilla, no. He won't play against Sevilla because we've already qualified," the City boss said following the win over Leicester.
"Hopefully against Fulham he can help us. We have six days, I think so, seven days until that day. We will see. If not he might play against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup."
Haaland is currently seven goals clear of Tottenham Hotspur skipper Harry Kane in the race to win the Premier League's Golden Boot. He is averaging a goal every 54 minutes, having scored hat-tricks against Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United.
