"Definitely got the same mentality as Cristiano" - Manchester City star hails Erling Haaland, makes Cristiano Ronaldo comparision
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva reckons his club teammate Erling Haaland shares a similar mentality to that of superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Silva and Ronaldo play for Portugal, so the former has seen the five-time Ballon d'Or from close quarters. Haaland, meanwhile, joined City last summer but has set the stage on fire by scoring goals aplenty.
Silva has attributed the Norwegian's incredible debut campaign for Manchester City to his desire to always score, just like Ronaldo. The Portuguese midfielder said during an interview with Arab News (as quoted by GOAL):
“The goal figures, it’s unbelievable; it’s Cristiano and (Lionel) Messi level, that amount of goals. Hopefully Erling can keep going that way because we need his goals until the last game of the season.
“He has definitely got the same mentality as Cristiano, always wanting to be in the box, always wanting to score. He doesn’t care if he touches the ball one or two times, when he touches, he scores. He’s just a proper striker.”
Silva added that he had an inking of what Haaland was capable of, having seen his accomplishments with RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmind. In 116 games across competitions for the two clubs, the striker scored 115 goals and laid out 30 assists.
Silva said that it feels great to have Haaland doing that kind of damage for City now:
“We knew what Erling could do before he arrived because he’s been doing that for a few years before he joined us, in Norway, Austria and Germany. We watched him, and we played against him, but you never know when he comes here, what level he can get to.
“But what he’s done so far this season has been amazing, and we are really happy to have him with us. He’s definitely a special player, and he’s helping us very much. I hope he can get even better.”
Since arriving at Manchester City last summer, Haaland has scored 48 goals in 42 games across competitions. An incredible 32 of those strikes have come in the league, the joint-most in a 38-game Premier League season.
It's worth noting that Ronaldo held that record after netting 31 league goals in the 2007-08 season before Mohamed Salah scored 32 in the 2017-18 campaign.
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo
Erling Haaland said in an interview in 2020 that he's inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo's drive to be the best. The Manchester City man made those comments when he was still at Borussia Dortmund and Ronaldo was plying his trade for Juventus.
Haaland told ESPN (as quoted by Diario AS):
"You could just see it in Ronaldo's face that 'Today I'm the man' and 'Today, I will score goals' and that's what he did. That's what I like the best, how dedicated and hungry they are to succeed and to be the man in the moment."
Ronaldo, now at Al-Nassr, has a resume most players would dream off. The Portuguese superstar is the all-time top-scorer in men's international football and has won five Ballons d'O awards and as many UEFA Champions League titles.
Haaland, 22, is still in the early stages of his career and has only one major title - the DfB Pokald-. However, if all goes well for Manchester City this season, he could have a Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League winners' medal.