"He’s going to become more and more complete" - Former Chelsea star Joe Cole backs Man City's Erling Haaland to score 1000 career goals

Former Chelsea ace Joe Cole has heaped praise on Manchester City star Erling Haaland, backing the Norwegian to score a whopping 1000 goals.

Haaland was at his best as City bagged an emphatic 3-0 win in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal with Bayern Munich on Tuesday (April 11). In the 70th minute, Haaland delivered a superb chipped cross for Bernardo Silva, who headed in from close range. Six minutes later, the provider turned scorer, tapping the ball home from close range after John Stones had found the Norwegian with a clever nod from the left side.

Cole was mighty impressed with Haaland’s display and backed him to get even better.

"I said to Rio, I think he's going to get 1000 goals!" 😂

How long will it take for Erling Haaland to achieve Joe Cole's prediction...? 👀

🎙️ @seemajaswal https://t.co/G3Jo6TMDXQ

Assessing Haaland’s performance against Bayern Munich on BT Sport, Cole said:

“Just ridiculous. His assist (for Bernardo Silva) was outstanding. The frightening thing is that he is just going to get better and better. He’s going to become more and more complete.”

Cole, who played for Chelsea between 2003 and 2010, added:

“I was saying to Rio (Ferdinand) I think he is going to score 1000 goals. He laughed at me. But look at the numbers, if he played until his mid 30s and doesn’t get injured (he can do it).”

Erling Haaland’s strike against the Bavarians took his season tally to 45, in only 39 games across competitions. That's the most a Premier League player has scored in a single season, breaking the previous record of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah.

Erling Haaland expresses his love for Champions League after stunning display against Bayern Munich

Erling Haaland fired on all cylinders to help Manchester City to a commanding win victory over Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich at the Etihad. Apart from scoring and providing a wonderful assist, Haaland created a big chance and kept the opposition on their toes with his aggressive pressing.

After his stellar display, the former Borussia Dortmund man took to Twitter to profess his love for the Champions League.

Nothing but pure love for this competition! 🔵 #mancity #UCL https://t.co/3r5VqWAXMu

He wrote:

“Nothing but pure love for this competition! 🔵”

Haaland has now scored 11 Champions League goals in seven games this season, emerging as the competition’s leading scorer. City will now hope to complete the job in the return leg at Bayern Munich next Wednesday (April 19)