Guardiola: Lionel Messi, not Erling Haaland, is ‘most unbelievable forward I have ever seen’

Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick in Manchester City’s 4-1 knocking of Ipswich Town on Saturday, taking his objective tally for the season up to 4 in 2 matches and his overall number of Premier League objectives up to 67 in 68 looks. He’s not just on track to be the most respected goalscorer in Premier League history; he’s well on his method to endingupbeing one of the biggest goalscorers of all time.

For now, though, Manchester City supervisor Pep Guardiola has no doubts about who he believes is the finest center forward of all time is: Lionel Messi.

“The most amazing forward I have ever seen is Messi — I’ve neverever stated something like that,” Guardiola informed beIN SPORTS on Saturday when asked if Haaland is the “most total” center forward he’s ever seen.

[Related: Man City manager compares Erling Haaland to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo]

Messi scored 211 objectives in 219 matches under Guardiola at FC Barcelona and tape-recorded 94 helps. He’s still Barcelona’s all-time prominent goalscorer and the leading goalscorer in La Liga history with 474 objectives; Cristiano Ronaldo is 2nd with 311 objectives.

Haaland hasn’t reached the analytical peaks that the likes of Messi and Ronaldo have yet, however Guardiola believes his star striker currently has a strong case as a famous goalscorer. 

“The numbers with Erling are astounding,” Guardiola stated. “I think he can sit at the table, in terms of scoring objectives, with Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Messi, that’s for sure.”

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]