Erling Haaland: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says too much expected of striker

Haaland has scored nine goals in his first five Premier League games, including two hat-tricks

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland (Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola believes that unrealistic expectations are already being made of Erling Haaland after scoring consecutive Premier League hat-tricks.

The Manchester City striker hit three inside 38 minutes against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, just days after a second-half hat-trick earned the champions a 4-2 comeback victory over Crystal Palace.

Haaland has scored nine goals in his first five Premier League games - a top-flight record - and is the first player in the post-1992 era to score nine times in August alone.

Expectations were already high following his £53m move from Borussia Dortmund this summer but have already been exceeded. The most goals scored by a player in a single Premier League season is 34 and already looks achievable.

Guardiola, however, believes people are already in danger of getting carried away by Haaland’s rate of scoring and has warned that even for a player of his ability, it is unsustainable in the long run.

When asked whether expectations of Haaland were already too great, he said: “Yeah, people can expect it. It's nice, it's good. I'd prefer that, I want him to expect it too. I like that he wants to score three goals every game but this is not going to happen.

“I know it's not going to happen, everyone in the world of football knows it's not going to happen. If it doesn't happen, okay it doesn't happen. What's next? We try to do it better next time.

“But the expectation is there because the numbers are incredible for this guy in his career. He's scored nine goals in five games and it's really good.

“What's important is not the perfect start. The perfect start is Arsenal's but we are there, close, and the feeling is that we are playing good and we are going to continue to do that.”

Guardiola nevertheless believes that Haaland will only improve with every game, as he grows used to City’s style of play and his team-mates.

Haaland has made a mockery of suggestions that he would be unsuited to Guardiola’s philosophy or take time to adapt, but the City manager believes he can still work on minor details to enhance his overall game.

“Read where the space is, there are spaces where he can drop, but there are moments when it's not necessary to drop because the space is not there. And of course he's a guy who's in the box.

“We want to play a lot of the time in there, to produce a lot of goals and put a lot of balls in there to make him feel comfortable and to use his incredible weapon.

“He's a guy who arrives in the box and has a sense that he can score. This is what we want to do.”