Erling Haaland might struggle to replicate the form which has seen him hit 35 goals so far in the Premier League this season, at least that's according to Andy Cole.
The Norwegian striker – named the best Premier League player this season by FourFourTwo – recently set the new record for goals in a single Premier League campaign, overtaking Alan Shearer's and Andy Cole's tallies of 34, and the Manchester City star still has two more games to add to his total.
Cole, who played for Manchester United, Manchester City and Newcastle United during his career, doesn't expect Haaland to match his impressive form in the next campaign, though, suggesting other sides will have learned how to defend against him.
“Naturally, next season will be the toughest as a player’s second season in the Premier League always is," Cole told William Hill and Footy Accumulators’ podcast, No Tippy Tappy Football.
"A lot more teams work you out in the second campaign and while I’m not saying he’s going to struggle to score goals because he’s playing for Manchester City, he might not get as many.”
Despite his scepticism at Haaland repeating such a ridiculous goalscoring record, Cole still expresses how thoroughly impressed he has been with the 22-year-old, highlighting his beaten record as a great achievement.
“Why should I be disappointed about the record?” Cole said. Records are there to be broken and in all honesty I don’t care. Someone else has got it now, fair play to them and let’s get on with it. I think he [Erling Haaland] has been absolutely brilliant and a real breath of fresh air.
“I’m not surprised he’s scored so many goals because you have to score goals in that Manchester City team. They create so many chances and all you really need to do is run the box and you could possibly end up with 20 tap-ins a season."
“He was exactly what City needed in terms of that player that can be in and around the box and finish the chances when they come. He does it perfectly. He doesn’t really get involved until the 18-yard box, but when he does start getting involved outside of it, it’s probably game over as he’ll have everything going for him!"
