Rio Ferdinand claims Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is already showing 'shades of Cristiano Ronaldo'
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Updated 10/06/2023 at 23:22 GMT
Erling Haaland failed to score in the Champions League final but ended the club season with 52 goals scored in 53 games. That scoring ratio has been rarely matched by any professional in modern times, but Cristiano Ronaldo is a player who has sometimes exceeded it. Ronaldo's former team-mate Rio Ferdinand compared the two men's mentality after the victory over Inter Milan on Saturday.
Guardiola: UCL win was written in the stars
Rio Ferdinand compared Erling Haaland’s mentality to Cristiano Ronaldo after the Norwegian won the Champions League final with Manchester City against Inter Milan on Saturday.
The final match itself was a rare occasion when the 22-year-old forward did not score, but he ended the season with 12 goals in 11 European appearances, and 52 from 53 over the course of the club campaign.
Haaland is known for his obsessive pursuit of self-improvement, and earlier in the week told BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand that one of the motivations to join City was to improve under Pep Guardiola.
He also paid tribute to Ronaldo and said he is one of the few players that he watches to glean information from to help his game.
Speaking on BT after the win, Haaland told Ferdinand and others pitchside: “In my wildest dreams I would never think of this for a 22-year-old me, to be honest.
“It shows that it’s possible for a guy from a small hometown in Norway, it also gives motivation to other young people who are in the same situation, it’s unbelievable.
“Throughout my whole life, having good people I can trust is even more important. To have this is fantastic, especially with my mother and father. I’m so happy.
“I think after a couple of days, when this settles a bit, I think I will want to do it again. I know myself that much, I’m quite sure.”
Haaland also said there were areas where he wanted to get better.
He explained: “I can improve a lot, I can improve - today is a difficult game - I could have got the ball from Gundo [Ilkay Gundogan] in the first half. Second half was really close with Jack [Grealish] a couple of times. On a good day I could have scored a couple of goals, but in the end I really don’t care about that, to be honest.”
Ferdinand then claimed that he saw similarities between Haaland’s mindset and his erstwhile team-mate, Ronaldo.
“It’s the mindset,” he said. “I mean, that’s the separator. That separates the good from the great. This guy is going to be relentless, you can see it.
"I see shades of Cristiano in the mentality. When you look in his eyes it’s not just about selfish me wanting to be the focal point and score every single goal and every ball has to come to me.
"He’s about the functionality of the team and he’s playing his role perfectly.”
On June 10 and 11 strap yourself in for a live sport rollercoaster ride. With the finals of Roland-Garros, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Speedway Grand Prix, the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, the Criterium du Dauphine, MotoGP and the Champions League final, it’s the Weekend of Champions live on Eurosport, discovery+ and BT Sport.
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