Thierry Henry issues bold warning to clubs over Erling Haaland’s Manchester City career | OneFootball

Premier League legend Thierry Henry has warned rival clubs over the future of Erling Haaland and the ever-developing nature of the Manchester City striker.

Since joining City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, the 25-year-old has smashed record after record, rewriting history books along the way with a current tally of 93 Premier League goals in just 103 appearances – placing him ahead of Manchester United great Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the highest-scoring Norwegian in the competition’s history.

The Norwegian’s form has been crucial to City’s recent silverware haul under Pep Guardiola, with domestic titles, cup triumphs, and a UEFA Champions League crown all influenced by Haaland’s ruthless finishing and relentless hunger for goals.

Guardiola himself recently compared the striker to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in terms of output, while also noting that his closest current rivals in world football are Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane.

Saturday’s 5–1 win over Burnley was another reminder of Haaland’s unique qualities as his two late goals not only sealed the result but also saw him move to a staggering 133 strikes in 152 games for Manchester City.

Speaking during a new feature with Manchester City’s official club website, Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry has piled on the praise for Erling Haaland and the inevitable continued rise of the Norwegian forward.

“We’re talking about a freak here in Haaland. But even a freak can get better. He can get freakier! I know that sounds crazy with what he’s done already but I still think that one day this guy will score six goals in a game. He could have done it already,” said Henry.

“He’ll score four but he will miss four in the same game. But as a young man, the way he’s been behaving is astonishing. When I look at his body and his build, he’s strong, powerful, with long legs but also when he takes his shirt off, you see a guy that lives and breathes football.

“He looks like a guy that takes care of his body, that is working in a good environment and that always wants more and more. And that attitude for me is as valuable as scoring a hat-trick every game. You can see that he scares people…they are scared of him and what he can do.”

The former France international continued, “But he also has the demeanour of: ‘You can’t stop me, I’m stronger than you and I’m faster than you’. There was one game I saw where he went into someone and the guy bounced off him and went flying.

“Erling turned to the referee and he went ‘what did I do?’. I don’t think he even realised his own strength. I always say with strikers for big teams ‘you’re going to get judged on what you’re not doing or what you didn’t do yet’, but you should embrace that because it comes because of how good you are.

“People will say ‘you still didn’t score against that team, still didn’t score at that stadium, you still didn’t score four against them, he didn’t score three against that team’. Because this guy Haaland, this is the type of thing he does. This for me tells you how good you are. Because if people were not saying that about you, then you’ve not been that good.

“If people talk about you, you’re on a good path. I would rather be in that situation and try to deal with the noise than not have it. He can improve. I think he is clever because he knows what he’s good at. But now can you do even more?

“Maybe six or eight times per season, that’s what the game is asking for because the team that you’re playing against is that good. But Erling definitely knows what he’s good at and on top of everything, the most important thing he also knows what can improve at and that’s a sign of football intelligence.”

Thierry Henry’s comments echo the sentiments of Pep Guardiola and others in football who believe Erling Haaland has the potential to dominate world football for the next decade, with the Manchester City forward already being spoken about as a possible heir to the throne of some of the game’s very best performers.

Speculation around Haaland’s future continues to rumble, particularly with Barcelona persistently linked by Spanish media as being “optimistic” of signing him one day. However, given his record-breaking form and status as one of City’s all-time leading scorers at just 25 years old, the club are under no pressure to consider a sale.

For now, Manchester City fans can relish watching Erling Haaland terrorise Premier League defences on a weekly basis, and if Thierry Henry’s prediction comes true, the footballing world may not have seen the very peak of Haaland’s powers just yet.