Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scored twice in the 4-1 obliteration of Southampton this weekend to take his tally to 44 goals in 38 games this season, which led manager Pep Guardiola to compare the 22-year-old directly with two indisputable luminaries in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
"In terms of the thesis of scoring goals. He's quite similar in terms of Cristiano, but Messi is the more complete player," Guardiola told reporters after watching Haaland open the scoring against the Saints before doubling his haul with a spectacular overhead kick.