Erling Haaland handed ultimate compliment by Man City boss Pep Guardiola - 'We joke'

Erling Haaland has started the season in red-hot form, his double against Burnley putting him on eight league goals already this term - four more than anyone else in the Premier League after six games

The superlatives for Erling Haaland ran out a long time ago. But Pep Guardiola still couldn't resist handing Haaland the ultimate compliment when it came to summing up his striker's goal record.

Because there is no higher praise than being compared to Lionel Messi. Most people regard Argentine icon Messi as the greatest footballer of all time. And in terms of goals, Guardiola reckons Haaland is up there - or even ahead of Messi - when it comes to the sheer volume of them.

For all but stoppage time of Manchester City's battering of Burnley, it looked like Haaland was going to break the habit of a lifetime, and not find the back of the net. Then the Norwegian sensation came to his senses and helped himself to two goals to complete this rout.

The 25-year-old now has an astonishing 15 goals in just nine games for club and country this season. And 133 in 151 games in all competitions since joining City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.

Guardiola wasn't joking when he described Haaland's prowess in front of goal as 'insane'.

And when asked if he had come across anyone as prolific during his long career in football, Guardiola said: "Messi, maybe. And at his age, maybe the numbers are better. But yeah, in terms of goals, Messi, Harry Kane, (Robert) Lewandowski maybe.

"You know, these kind of guys. Messi and Cristiano (Ronaldo) have been doing it for 15, 20 years. Every season.

"But Erling is still young. And he's at that level in terms of goals. Erling, the numbers are insane. We joke, but really it is incredible."

What was also incredible was how Burnley were still level with City with an hour gone. Máxime Esteve's first of two own goals put City ahead, before Jaidon Anthony produced a shock equaliser. But Matheus Nunes restored City's lead, Esteve put through his own net again and then Haaland's double finished off Scott Parker's side.

If Haaland feels like god's gift to scoring goals, Guardiola believes rising star Nico O'Reilly is City's lucky charm. O'Reilly is riding the crest of a wave, having established himself in Guardiola's team to earn a lucrative new contract.

And Guardiola added: "We'll try to, you know, be sure to show a player that we want him. Make the effort to show that we need them to stay longer. So I'm really pleased. Nico is growing a lot. I think since he started to play, we lost just one game. The FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.

"When he's not been involved, it was defeats all the time. So Nico helped us a lot, improved a lot in his aggressiveness and set pieces and with the ball. We're really, really pleased."

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