Erling Haaland dubbed ‘ultimate luxury player’ as Carragher names THREE Premier League icons better than Man City star

JAMIE CARRAGHER has dubbed Erling Haaland the “ultimate luxury player” while naming three Premier League icons better than the Manchester City striker.

Haaland, 23, has come under fire this season for his lack of all-round play in important games.

Despite scoring 30 goals in all competitions, the Norwegian has struggled to link up with teammates on the pitch.

And as a result, City are in danger of losing their Premier League crown to either Arsenal or Liverpool.

Haaland’s issues came to the fore in recent draws against City’s title rivals.

And he also failed to make an impression in the 3-3 Champions League draw with Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Haaland’s drop-off comes after he banged in 52 goals in his debut campaign last year, helping City to a historic Treble.

But with the goals drying up, Liverpool legend Carragher believes Haaland must start contributing more to his all-round game.

The player-turned-pundit reckons Haaland will never win the Ballon d’Or without adding some more strings to his bow.

And Carragher also believes Haaland is not as good in his overall game as iconic Premier League strikers Thierry Henry, Luis Suarez and Harry Kane.

BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKER

Carragher told The Telegraph: “Erling Haaland is the ultimate luxury footballer. He is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest goal-scorers, but is yet to become a world-class player.

“To be truly world-class you need more than one, all-encompassing trait. Think of the best Premier League strikers of the last 20 years – Thierry Henry, Luis Suarez or Harry Kane – and they had or have a major influence on the biggest matches whether they scored or not.

“All of them could play for any side in the world and contribute more than an impressive strike-rate.

“In general play, Haaland is not at the same level as these strikers yet, his three most recent games against top class centre-backs confirming that for all his brilliance inside the penalty area, he is a work-in-progress out of it.

“Virgil van Dijk, William Saliba and Antonio Rudiger bullied Haaland, the much-hyped showdowns between top defenders and a goal machine nothing of the sort. They were a mismatch rather than a match-up.

“If his sole interest is breaking goalscoring records, he has no need to change anything.

“If he has serious ambitions to win the Ballon d’Or and play for Real Madrid, he may have a problem. He must add more to his game to make that leap and to seriously challenge his rival to the title of best player of his generation, Kylian Mbappe.”

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk