Haaland Is 'Obsessed,' Can Match Messi-Ronaldo's 700-800 Goals Tally, Says De Bruyne

Kevin de Bruyne believes Erling Haaland can score 800 goals before his career ends. He said his Manchester City teammate has an edge as he is "obsessed" with netting goals.

Haaland moved from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City this summer and took little time to settle at Etihad Stadium. The Norwegian striker has already scored 24 goals in 19 matches for Pep Guardiola's side in all competitions in the 2022-23 campaign.

Of them, 18 have come in the Premier League and that too in just 13 matches. Haaland is the leading scorer in the English top flight in the ongoing season, with Spurs' Harry Kane in second place with 12 goals.

De Bruyne heaped praise on Haaland, saying he believes the former Dortmund star could end his career with 700-800 strikes, a tally that would see him emulate the legendary duo of Lionel Messi (793) and Cristiano Ronaldo (819).

"Erling is so obsessed with goals. He already has about 200 goals, so he can probably go to 600, 700 or 800 if he stays fit and does the things that he does. Erling is a top-level striker. I don't see Erling as different to a lot of people. He is a normal football player like everybody else and he doesn't take himself too seriously," said De Bruyne.

"When you talk about professional footballers or professional athletes, everybody has that little edge. I don't think you can become a professional player if you don't have that little something to become the best version you can be," the Belgian midfielder added.

Haaland has netted 159 goals and 39 assists in his professional career so far.

Meanwhile, City boss Pep Guardiola has high regard for De Bruyne, with the Spanish boss calling him one of the greatest players ever to represent the Etihad side. The Belgian player has also expressed the same sentiments for the manager.

"I have been with him for so long, so I can understand when he changes things [in a game] is just the way that he sees football, his football philosophy, which is to get the ball as much as possible and play good football with it. He wants to achieve that as much as possible in the game," said De Bruyne.

"He will be a genius in one sort of way because otherwise he wouldn't have changed football as much as he did. The way that he plays football, a lot of people do it now because of him and the Barcelona way, [Johan] Cruyff etc. It is like a chain," the midfielder added.