Pep Guardiola has hit back at Alan Shearer after the former Newcastle striker claimed that Harry Kane would score just as many goals as Erling Haaland in the Manchester City team.
The reigning Premier League champions bagged the bargain of the summer when they triggered Haaland's £51million release clause. The ex-Borussia Dortmund striker has adapted seamlessly to life in the Premier League and has already plundered 20 goals in just 13 games across all competitions, including 15 in the top flight.
Although Haaland has made a seismic impact for Guardiola's side, they were heavily linked with a deal for Kane last year. It is believed that the Tottenham talisman was Manchester City's No.1 striking target, but they were unable to thrash out a deal for his services.
Shearer, who is the Premier League's all-time leading goalscorer, heaped praise on Kane earlier this week, insisting that the England captain would have achieved the same sensational returns as Haaland if he had got his move just over 12 months ago.
Writing in The Athletic, Shearer said: "If Harry was in this City team, he would be scoring as many goals as Erling has. This is dreamland for any top forward. I’ve said it all along - a top goalscorer in this City team should score 40 goals. If Erling stays fit, then he’ll get that and maybe even some more."
However, Guardiola gave a frosty response when he was asked about the comments on Friday afternoon. The City manager said: "I don't know. I don't have the ability to know what would happen if Harry Kane was here. Alan was a striker, maybe he knows better than me."
Join the debate! Do you agree with Shearer - would Kane have had the same impact at Man City as Haaland? Let us know here.
Haaland comes face-to-face with Mohamed Salah on Sunday as Manchester City lock horns with Liverpool at Anfield. The Egyptian forward has been the hallmark of consistency in recent years but has struggled for form in the Premier League in recent weeks.
As a result, Haaland has stormed ahead in the race for the Golden Boot - and is already only eight strikes away from the 23-goal tally that Salah and Son Heung-min clocked up last year.
But Guardiola has insisted that Manchester City will be taking nothing for granted when they face Salah on Sunday and predicted that the Liverpool star would return to form sooner rather than later.
"This type of players always score goals in their career," the Spaniard said of the Egyptian. "If they are struggling a bit, sometimes not at their best the quality is there. They are so good, they scored the goals in the last game, we played many times against them, Salah scores always we know that."
