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Erling Haaland reminds Gary Neville of a villain from a James Bond film, with the former Manchester United defender adding that the striker could go on to be “the best player in the world”.
Haaland has scored 10 goals in his first six Premier League appearances for Manchester City in an electric start to life in the Premier League.
Having lit up the Bundesliga during his time with Borussia Dortmund, Haaland now looks set to double down on his increasing reputation as one of the game’s deadliest marksmen.
Following back-to-back hat-tricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, the 22-year-old was on the scoresheet again on Saturday as City drew 1-1 at Aston Villa.
In his Sky Sports podcast, former Manchester United defender Neville stated his belief that City will claim top spot in the Premier League again thanks to Haaland, drawing comparisons between the striker and the villains that populated Bond films as unstoppable opponents.
“There’s things happening this season that are not smooth but I anticipate Manchester City will win this league, and they could win it comfortably,” he stated.
“Erling Haaland – it just looks a bit unfair. I remember when I watched James Bond films when I was younger and there was the character Jaws, who was about 7ft 2in. He used to just pick people up and chuck them on the floor.
“It’s a little bit like that when you watch Haaland against strong centre-backs. You think, ‘wow, he’s just unplayable – how do you even cope with him in the box?’.
“This player – you fully anticipate he’s going to go on and win Ballon d’Ors and be the best player in the world. That’s exciting – that’s not happened for quite a while in the Premier League.”
Haaland is set to make his Champions League bow for City on Tuesday when they travel to Sevilla for the first match of the group stage.
