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Alan Shearer believes Erling Haaland "has a chance" of breaking his Premier League goals record, but Harry Kane is in the best position to usurp him.
Haaland, a £51 million signing from Borussia Dortmund, got off the mark on his Premier League debut in stunning style with a brace in Manchester City's 2-0 win over West Ham on the opening weekend of the new season.
Shearer, the Premier League's all-time record goalscorer with 260, interviewed Haaland in the build-up to his first appearance.
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After seeing his brilliant brace at the London Stadium, he immediately took to Twitter with a post about Haaland and his long-standing record.
"@ErlingHaaland 258 to go!!!!" Shearer wrote, accompanied by a couple of laughing emojis.
The 51-year-old might have been joking with that tweet but he genuinely thinks City's No.9, still only 22, is a threat to his badge of honour after just one game.
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“He’s the real deal, I've no doubt about that," Shearer told SPORTbible in an exclusive interview ahead of the Premier League's 30 year anniversary.
"I was really impressed when I interviewed him, he was super confident and despite that miss in the Community Shield he had a laugh about it.
“He actually said you’ve got to feel the pain to get better. The way he won the penalty and the way he got up and had the confidence to say, ‘No I'm taking it’ and stuck it away the way he did – and then the second finish.
“I know he missed a sitter for his hat-trick but if he stays fit then he should be getting 30-40 goals, absolutely, with the chances that Man City create.
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He’s prepared to make them runs and his runs are amazing and he’s quick. They’ll find him, there’s no doubt.
“The numbers of times this season, more so away from home because when teams go to the Etihad they’ll probably try to sit deep, you'll see Haaland running in behind like he did for his first and second goal - it will be unbelievable how many times that happens. He’s fantastic at it.
“I think if he does stick around and does stay fit then I do think he’ll have a chance. But I think Harry Kane might have something to say about that because he might have already broken it by then.
“I know how desperate he is to try and break it himself so I might not be the one he’s chasing, it might be someone different.”
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260 is the magic number Shearer racked up for Blackburn Rovers and boyhood club Newcastle United. Kane, who recently turned 29, is on 183 - 77 off that figure after banging in the goals for Spurs.
The England captain is fifth in the all-time rankings, one behind Sergio Aguero and four behind Andrew Cole.
A further 26 strikes in the top-flight will see him move past Three Lions' record goalscorer Wayne Rooney, who finished on 208 and is second on the list.
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At one stage Shearer was fearful that Rooney was on his tail until he dropped into a deeper position.
Shearer said: “I always use to joke with Wayne whenever I saw him and he always used to say, ‘Yeah I’m coming for it’.
“But then there was a time where he said to me, ‘You know what I’m not gonna get it’ because he became further and further back [in position] and [played] different positions.
“I always remember that time he said, ‘It’s gonna be yours, I’m not gonna get there.’ And then of course he went to America and played over there for a bit.
“I did think he was going to be the one to break it but I do think Harry’s got the best chance at the minute.”
After a spell of top teams playing without focal points and instead operating with a 'false nine', there's been something of a resurgence for natural number nines.
City and Liverpool have both splashed out on pure goalscorers in Haaland and Darwin Nunez, respectively.
One of the best to ever do it, Shearer is welcoming the return of the number nines.
“I think what happens is you see things change and evolve, it goes around in circles doesn’t it?
“You look at the position of the sitting midfielder, a lot of people would associate [Claudio] Makelele with that position and then [NGolo] Kante.
“Over the past few years rather than being a centre-forward it’s been like more like a forward – whether that’s [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi, [Sadio] Mane or [Mo] Salah – all these guys.
“But with Haaland, [Robert] Lewandowski, Kane - I know Kane drops deeper but he is essentially a number nine and a centre forward.
“The number nine’s on its way back, thank God!”
Shearer played up top with Chris Sutton in Blackburn's fairytale triumph and also flourished partnering Les Ferdinand and Teddy Sheringham in attack, the latter on the international stage with England.
But, for selfish reasons, he wouldn't want to play alongside Nunez or Haaland in today's era.
"The problem with goalscorers is you always want to take each other’s space up so I don’t think I’d like to play with either of them!
“We’d all be running into the same space and because you all have the sense of when and where to run – all three of us would be making the same runs.
“I wouldn’t probably like to play with either of them because we’d cramp each other’s style!”
The PL30 campaign launched on Monday 8 August, when the Premier League Trophy began a seven-week tour of England and Wales, visiting all 20 Premier League clubs, as well as EFL, non-league and women’s clubs who have benefited from Premier League investment.
Each club on the Trophy Tour will name a Community Captain – one of the many people who have been a part of the Premier League’s success and had a positive impact on the lives of people connected to their football club.
Fans are encouraged to share their favourite memories with the #PL30 hashtag.
Topics: Premier League, Alan Shearer, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Darwin Nunez
Josh Lawless