It might be hard to see how a striker who has already scored 129 goals in just 173 games can actually get any better, but you shouldn't put it past Pep Guardiola.
After coping remarkably well without signing a replacement for Sergio Aguero in the summer following their failed attempts to land Harry Kane, it looks to have been an incredible stroke of luck for Manchester City as they are now the front runners in the race to sign Erling Haaland. The Manchester Evening News understands that, though the club remaining cautious on the deal after being stung in the past, they are now in pole position to sign the Borussia Dortmund sensation.
Haaland's future was set to be the saga of the summer as all of Europe's elite were interested. But the race looks over before the starting pistol even got loaded, let alone fired into the air.
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The circumstances have aligned perfectly for City to bring in a player who looks destined to be one of the world's best for the next decade — arguably the first time such a player has ever come to the Premier League just as he's hitting the height of his powers.
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich already have world-class No.9s, Barcelona don't have the cash and Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United are circus shows right now. City, meanwhile, are a near guarantee of winning silverware, are expertly run, need a striker to be their main man, have an emotional connection thanks to his father and, most importantly, have Guardiola at the helm.
The world's best manager makes every player he works with better. It's scary to think what Haaland can become under his stewardship given everything the Norwegian has already achieved without it.
That's something that must have come into Haaland's thinking, with sources in Germany and Spain saying the two parties have agreed personal terms. In Germany alone, he has scored 80 goals in 80 games, as well as a further 21 assists, and perhaps he is even wondering how much better he can get.
You only need to look at the work Guardiola has already done with some of City's forwards. The legendary Aguero initially looked as though he wouldn't be able to thrive in Guardiola's high-pressing system when he arrived in 2016 but as soon as the Argentine proved willing to learn and adapt, Guardiola coached him into a player who was capable of so much more than just scoring goals. Aguero went onto enjoy even more success.
In reverse, Guardiola has also helped players who weren't the greatest scorers to become much more ruthless. In his first three complete seasons of first-team football without being coached by Guardiola, Raheem Sterling managed 11 goals in each. In his first under Guardiola that actually dipped to 10. Completely respectable numbers, especially for a young winger but with the amount of great chances he missed, it could have been a lot higher. Guardiola knew that and went to work on making it happen.
In his second year in charge, Sterling's output soared to 23 goals, then 25 the year after that and up again to 31 after that. Last season saw a dip to 14 as he struggled for form, but he is already close to beating that this year and is on 13. Guardiola taught Sterling to be clinical in front of goal, to score the boring tap-ins rather than going for extravagance. He taught him where to be and when to be there in order to get the most chances to score.
Riyad Mahrez has also benefitted from this and is currently enjoying his best-ever scoring season with a hefty chunk of it still to go. The Algerian already has 21 strikes to his name and has revealed that Guardiola has been the catalyst for his improvement.
“I always think I need to add things to my game. Pep worked with me a lot as well to do this, to improve more in my runs, to be more in the box and to be where you can score goals," he said.
"He always gives us attacking players the freedom in the last 30 metres. You can do whatever you want. He obviously gives you the information of where he thinks the spaces are but at the end it is about you. The pitch belongs to us and he will never stop you from dribbling or anything else."
So whether it's teaching already incredible goal scorers to fine-tune other aspects of their game or encouraging exciting forwards to improve their finishing, Guardiola consistently raises his players' games. Haaland is near enough the perfect striker already, so the prospect of him getting any better should send shivers down the spines of their rivals.
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