Erling Haaland set to beat Premier League record set by Thierry Henry 20 years ago
By Dan Hepburn
Manchester City's goalscorer-in-chief has set the Premier League alight in his inaugural campaign, breaking record after record and is closing in one Thierry Henry's long-standing achievement.
Though goals are Erling Haaland's forte, he has also dished out the odd assist, taking his goal involvement tally to a highly respectable 44. His latest lay-off to Phil Foden at Brighton matched the Premier League record of total goal involvements in a single season.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry set the same record two decades prior, but the new kid on the block will want to leave the Frenchman in the dust by surpassing it in City's finale at Brentford.
Erling Haaland matches Thierry Henry's goal involvement record
44 - Erling Haaland’s assist tonight was his 44th Premier League goal involvement in 2022-23 (36 goals, 8 assists) – a joint-record in a 38-game Premier League season, along with Thierry Henry in 2002-03 (24 goals, 20 assists). Machine. pic.twitter.com/Ni4XS7WXyE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 24, 2023
Both Premier League cult heroes in their own right, but with Haaland's career still in his infancy, he has all the sufficient tools to surpass Henry's legacy. Marry that up with Pep Guardiola's ideology and we have an all-timer on our hands.
His arrival divided opinion: some believed he was the world-beating attacker that City craved while some were under the impression he couldn't hit the heights of the likes of Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah. Oh, how wrong were they.
Guardiola muttered that Sergio Aguero was irreplaceable upon his departure but has been proved entirely wrong by Haaland's first season in England. An audacious chip over Lukasz Fabianski recorded his record-breaking 35th goal of the campaign, but was just the latest of many to remind us what an alien talent the Spaniard has at his disposal.
Erling Haaland 2022/23 Premier League goal involvement record
Month | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
August | 9 | 1 |
September | 2 | 0 |
October | 6 | 2 |
November | 1 | 0 |
December | 3 | 0 |
January | 4 | 0 |
Feburary | 2 | 1 |
March | 1 | 1 |
April | 6 | 2 |
May | 2 | 1 |
Two hat-tricks in August had rival fans trembling and City fans relishing in the presence of their new focal point, but few understood what the phenom was capable of.
Next up for the 22-year-old is to eclipse old-timer Dixie Dean, who set the all-time goal record across all competitions - a total of 63 back in 1927/28.
At the rate that Haaland is excelling at, Alan Shearer and Andy Cole's joint-record of 47 goal involvements in a 42-game campaign could be his next season, although he has four fewer games to manage it.
Should he remain in the Manchester City ranks for years to come, surely Shearer's 260-goal record is in jeopardy?
Thierry Henry's 2003/04 Premier League goal involvements record
Month | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
August | 2 | 2 |
September | 4 | 2 |
October | 0 | 1 |
November | 3 | 2 |
December | 2 | 0 |
January | 6 | 1 |
February | 2 | 2 |
March | 0 | 2 |
April | 3 | 3 |
May | 2 | 5 |
Amazingly, Henry failed to secure the Golden Boot in this monumental season, with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking the award back to Manchester with him.
The former France international remains the only player to notch 20 in both goals and assists, though, and given Haaland's speciality in being the finisher rather than the provider, this record seems to be safe for the foreseeable future.
Despite the astonishing nature of the Arsenal forward's exploits in the attacking third, they were still five points adrift of the league summit as none other than Van Nistelrooy's United won their seventh Premier League title.
