‘Do not question me ever again’ – Rio Ferdinand makes honest confession about Haaland’s latest exploits

Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he was wrong to have doubted Erling Haaland after the Manchester City striker scored in his side’s Premier League 4-0 win over Southampton at the weekend.

Haaland has now scored a stunning 15 Premier League goals in just nine games, while in all competitions, he has 20 goals in just 13 appearances for Man City.

The Norwegian striker on his own now has more goals than 13 teams in the division, and is closing in on 200 career goals at the age of just 22.

Pundits have continued to praise Erling Haaland, but cast doubts on whether he will match the goal scoring records of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

For Joe Cole, The Norwegian star’s success has been unprecedented. He said on BT Sport: ‘This guy has changed the game, there needs to be a look back at the BT Sport pundits and who was saying he wouldn’t score goals, it is ridiculous what he was doing.’

Rio Ferdinand shared his sentiments, saying: ‘No one knew what he would do, I am a big enough man to admit this guy is doing different bits now, it’s unheard of. It is stupid really.

‘It is like a Sunday league player overage, he is doing it in the PL. People said he was only doing it in Germany.’

He added, “I was concerned he wouldn’t score the type of goals he did before at City with possession all the time, his instinct and understanding of the game, he said do not question me ever again.”

Despite their praise for the young striker, the pundits cast doubts on whether he would match the goal scoring record of Ronaldo, who scored his 700th career club goal against Everton on Sunday, or Messi, who sits just behind on 691.

Cole said of Ronaldo: ‘It is a massive achievement to do it the way he has done it. Haaland may score as many goals but will he have the quality? I’m not sure. We won’t see two like this for a very long time.

Ferdinand shared his scepticism, adding: ‘We talk about legends but none of them sustained this level of greatness for this amount of time. It’s mind boggling. We are seeing Haaland and Mbappe but they won’t reach it. It shows you the levels we are talking about.’