Controversial Cassano claims Haaland is a goal scorer not a football player
In his first campaign in England, the Norwegian sensation has notched more club goals in a season than any other Premier League player ever
Goal machine Erling Haaland "doesn't know how to play football".
That's the verdict of ex-Italy striker Antonio Cassano, despite record-breaker Haaland netting 45 times for Manchester City this season.
Cassano nonetheless likens the 22-year-old to a combination of Inter Milan cult hero Adriano and legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
That makes his description of Haaland even more staggering.
In his first campaign in England, the Norwegian sensation has notched more club goals in a season than any other Premier League player ever.
He's just four short of Clive Allen's all-time record of 49 for a top-flight star, set with Tottenham in 1986-87.
And last Saturday the Golden Boot frontrunner became the fourth Prem player in history to reach 30 goals in one term - in just his 27th game.
But former Real Madrid, Inter and AC Milan ace Cassano has a unique take.
He told Bobo TV: "Haaland reminds me of Adriano's time at Inter Milan.
"Ibrahimovic with Adriano's speed? Yes, very well. I agree, even if 'Ibra' was more technical than Haaland. It's a mixture, Adriano and (Christian) Vieri.
"There are other strikers who know how to play football like (Robert) Lewandowski and (Karim) Benzema. He doesn't know how to play football.
"He's a great scorer, he's phenomenal. But don't you prefer a striker who knows how to play football?"
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has previously stirred controversy by claiming City's intricate passing style might mean they are a better team without Haaland's pacy, power-packed goal-poaching - which thrived with his "counter-attacking" past sides.
But for scoring stats there is no debate.
Haaland announced himself to the football planet with nine goals in an Under-20 World Cup clash in 2019.
He failed to score in 16 matches for Bryne 2 but netted 20 times in 50 games for Norwegian giants Molde.
Then came 29 in 27 for RB Salzburg and 86 from 89 for Borussia Dortmund, including a debut hat-trick.
And the figures are even more impressive with City, for whom he finished the scoring in Tuesday's 3-0 Champions League defeat of Bayern Munich.
Haaland seems sure to pass Mo Salah's record of 32 goals in a 38-game Prem season.
And he's only four adrift of the 34 bagged in a single top-flight campaign by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer.
