Haaland is predicted to score 60 goals this season
"As I wrote in May 2022, Haaland is a goalscorer, quick, direct, physical, good in the air, can score with two feet and picks great positions," commented Shearer. on The Athletic on April 9.
With a brace in the match Man City beat Southampton 4-1 in the 30th round of the Premier League on April 8, Haaland reached 30 goals in the Premier League this season. He is the third striker to do so in his first season in the league, after Andy Cole (34 goals in 1993-1994) and Kevin Phillips (30 in 1999-2000).
The Norwegian striker is just four goals short of the Premier League record of 34 goals in a single season, held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole when the league totaled 42 games. The record for the most goals scored in a season over 38 matches belongs to Mohamed Salah - the Egyptian star scored 32 goals in the 2017-2018 season.
Haaland hit the 30-goal mark in 27 Premier League games, five fewer than any other player in the history of the competition. Only eight players in the top flight of English football, most recently Jimmy Greaves in 1961, scored more than 40 goals in a season.
In all competitions since the beginning of the season, Haaland has scored 44 goals in just 37 games. In the top five European leagues, Haaland is 13 goals ahead of the second, when PSG's Kylian Mbappe has 31 goals in 35 matches.
"I wonder how many people consider it an exaggeration when I wrote almost a year ago that Haaland would score 40 goals at Man City," Shearer said. "Man City, which scores a lot of goals, has added an excellent striker to a team with extraordinary creativity. Even I am stingy with Haaland. He is almost perfect and has surpassed the milestone of 40 goals this season. This".
Man City will play at least 12 matches for the rest of the season, including nine in the Premier League, against Sheffield United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on April 22, and especially two times against Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals. April 11 and April 19. If they reach the final of both these tournaments, the army under Pep Guardiola will play 16 matches.
Therefore, Shearer believes that Haaland will easily break his and Andy Cole's 34-goal record, and surpass the 50-goal mark this season. Even, the former Newcastle striker emphasized that Haaland can equal the all-time top goalscoring record of English football, if kept in the best shape until the end of the season. This record belongs to the late Everton striker Dixie Dean, who scored 60 goals in just 39 games in the 1927-1928 season. "It's scary," Shearer said of the Norwegian striker's ability to score goals.
On April 11, Man City will take on Bayern in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Haaland has 33 goals in 25 Champions League matches - a record for the number of matches to surpass 30 goals in the tournament.
