The Norwegian has had an astonishing first campaign at the Etihad Stadium, but where does it rank alongside some English top-flight legends?
Erling Haaland wrote yet another chapter in football history on Wednesday by becoming the first player to score 35 goals in a Premier League season. The Manchester City striker's goal against West Ham saw him break Andy Cole and Alan Shearer's long-standing record in nine fewer games than his predecessors.
In an astounding first season in England, Haaland had already beaten Mohamed Salah's record of 32 goals in a 38-game campaign and Sergio Aguero's record of 26 goals in one season for Manchester City. The Norwegian still has some way to go before he can be regarded as having a better legacy than the likes of Shearer, Cole, Salah and Aguero, who have been plundering goals in England's top flight for a number of years, but he has made the perfect start.
Haaland, though, can be compared to the other players who had remarkable debut seasons for new clubs in the Premier League, including Cole, Salah and Aguero, as well as a number of other greats and a couple of flashes in the pan.
GOAL takes a trip down memory lane and ranks the best first campaigns in 31 years in the English top flight. Where does Haaland rank?
Getty10Michu (Swansea City, 2012-13)
Michu came to the Premier League as a relative unknown, enjoyed an unbelievable debut season for Swansea and then faded back into obscurity.
Having signed from La Liga strugglers Rayo Vallecano for only £2 million in 2012, the Spanish forward had a dream debut, scoring twice in a thumping 5-0 win at Queens Park Rangers, celebrating by cupping his ear.
By Christmas, he had posted a remarkable 13 goals, including a brace in a shock win at Arsenal, and in February he helped Swansea win the League Cup, netting in the 5-0 rout of Bradford City in the final at Wembley.
He ended the campaign with 18 goals, putting him in the top five Premier League scorers that season. But that was as good as got for him, with ankle injuries disrupting his career and leading him to eventually retire from football in 2017, aged only 31.
AdvertisementGetty9Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers, 2007-08)
Not many players swap Bayern Munich for Blackburn, and Rovers quickly realised they had landed someone special when Paraguay striker Santa Cruz scored within minutes of coming off the bench on his debut at Middlesbrough.
Working under one of the deadliest finishers of his day in manager Mark Hughes, Santa Cruz relished his role as a poacher and became a specialist in arriving around the six-yard box and scoring with one touch.
He netted 19 goals in his first season, making him the fourth-highest scorer in the league and helping Blackburn finish seventh, narrowly missing out on European football.
But he could not keep it up the next campaign, getting only five goals. Indeed, his debut season with Blackburn is an anomaly and the only time he scored more than 10 times in a league campaign in Europe, despite playing for Bayern, Manchester City, Real Betis and Malaga. Santa Cruz is still playing in the Paraguayan top-flight today, aged 41.
Getty8Jurgen Klinsmann (Tottenham, 1994-95)
Klinsmann was the first genuine foreign star to join the Premier League, and Spurs could hardly believe their luck at landing one of the icons of the 1994 World Cup. The striker instantly endeared himself to the press by asking at his presentation if anyone knew of any nearby diving schools, making light of his reputation for play-acting.
He celebrated his first goal on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday by diving across the pitch and scored an acrobatic volley on his home debut against Everton. Fans were enraptured by 'Jurgen the German', who struck 21 goals over the season.
He was ultimately too good for Tottenham and left for Bayern Munich after just one year. But he had formed a strong bond with Spurs and returned to the club midway through the 1997-98 season, helping them avoid relegation.
Getty7Fernando Torres (Liverpool, 2007-08)
Torres was destined to play for Liverpool after wearing an armband bearing the words 'You'll Never Walk Alone' while he was representing boyhood club Atletico Madrid. Liverpool had long been searching for a proper striker since the days of Michael Owen, and Torres was everything they dreamed he would be.
In his first season, 'El Nino' became the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler to score 20 times in the league, the first Red to score consecutive hat-tricks since 1946, and the first player to score in eight consecutive games at Anfield since Roger Hunt in 1962.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo beat his total of 24 league goals that season, which was the best goal tally of his career.
