Pep Guardiola praises Erling Haaland following Premier League Player of the Month Award

Pep Guardiola has shared his views on Erling Haaland winning the Premier League Player of the Month award.

After a slightly underwhelming start to life in a Manchester City shirt against Liverpool in a 3-1 defeat in the FA Community Shield, question marks surrounded the Sky Blues' new number nine.

With the Norwegian international looking out of sync with his new teammates, there were claims that he would struggle to fit into Pep Guardiola’s system.

Additionally, there were those that pointed to how the 22-year old would find it a tall task to adapt to the Premier League, coming straight from the Bundesliga.

Since the Community Shield loss, it’s safe to say that the former Borussia Dortmund superstar has humbled each and every one of his critics.

In his first month in the Premier League alone, Haaland scored a staggering nine goals in five matches.

To paint a picture of how ridiculous the youngster’s numbers were, Luis Suarez is the only player in the division’s history to have outscored him in a single month - with ten goals in December, 2013.

Haaland’s frightening eye for goal has not stopped since, with his current tally being 11 goals in seven league outings.

The 22 year-old also became the fastest player in the league’s history to score two hat-tricks.

Breaking Demba Ba’s previous record of doing so in 21 games, by netting three times in consecutive matches, against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.

The generational talent is redefining goalscoring standards in English football, and as a result, has rightly been recognised as the Premier League Player of the Month for August.

Haaland became the first City player since Raheem Sterling in December to win the award, as the Norwegian was rewarded for an impressive start to the campaign.

Speaking about picking up the award, Haaland said: "I am delighted to win this award for the first time – it was an incredible start of the season for the team and I am grateful to everyone who voted.

“We all wanted to hit the ground running this season, so winning four games out of five was a great start for us in what is the most challenging competition in the world. I am happy to have played my part by scoring goals.

“What’s important is the result and to help the team. Hopefully, I can continue to support the team, make our fans happy with our performances and carry on our strong start to the season.”

Ahead of the Blues' trip to Wolves on Saturday, Pep Guardiola was quizzed about his thoughts on his star striker taking home the prestigious accolade.

“He’s exceptional, said it many times. At the age that he has, his ambition, he wants to better. A perfect person, a nice guy. He already had the quality”, he commented during his press conference.

Coming off the back of a wondrous finish against Borussia Dortmund in Manchester City’s 2-1 comeback win, Erling Haaland is showing no signs of slowing down in front of goal.

On Saturday, the Norwegian scored for the seventh successive game, as City beat Wolves 3-0 to return to the top of Premier League table.