Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has scored 44 goals in 38 matches across all competitions and former Premier League striker Alan Shearer has backed him to score 60 goals this season.

In his column for The Athletic, Shearer wrote: “If you were building a centre-forward from the ground up, Erling is what you would be left with. 

“As I wrote last May, he’s a goal machine, someone who is quick and direct, who is physically strong and good in the air, who can score with both feet and whose positioning is fantastic.

“If I’m being super picky, perhaps the ball bounces off him on the odd occasion it goes up to him in terms of link-up play, but other than that, I don’t see a weakness in his game.

“At a minimum, City have another 12 fixtures this season and potentially up to four more on top. If he can stay fit, Haaland will obliterate the Premier League record I share with Andy Cole of 34 goals in a single season (he is only four behind) and at his current rate of averages in all competitions, with 44 in 38 appearances, he will storm past 50.

“Even that may be a disservice to him. Who knows, we could even be talking 60 and Dixie Dean territory. Scary.”