Only Sergio Aguero (260), Eric Brook (177) and Tommy Johnson (166) have scored more goals for City, and the 25-year-old is under contract until the summer of 2034.
City are battling to bounce back from Premier League leaders Arsenal as the season draws to a close, with Josep Guardiola’s side still battling for silver on four fronts.
But with a whirlwind start to 2026, Haaland took time out from training to talk to TNT Sports’ Owen Hargreaves about his early influences, how he maintains his high standards and what drives him to stay at the top of the game.
Haaland’s childhood idols and influences
Haaland is often portrayed as a once-in-a-generation phenomenon, yet he is quick to acknowledge the lineage of strikers that have shaped his game.
Reflecting on his formative years, he explained that his admiration started with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and extended to prolific figures such as Sergio Aguero and Robin van Persie, whose talent and Swedish roots left a lasting impression.
However, Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, who led Leicester to the Premier League title in 2015-16 with an 11-game scoring streak, was the one who caught Haaland’s attention as a teenager at his hometown club Brine.
“I used to watch Zlatan a lot when I was young,” Haaland told TNT Sports. “He’s Swedish and he was nice to watch. Of course, I watched[Sergio]Aguero a lot because I watched a lot of City games.
“In the Premier League, we also had Robin[van Persie]. He was also left-footed and had crazy finishing. I remember the season he scored around 38 goals for Arsenal. It was an unbelievable season, but there were a lot of strikers.”
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“Even Jamie Vardy… his running was amazing to watch. I’ve seen a lot of strikers.
He added: “That’s a big part of my game, making runs in behind and stretching defenders and creating space between Phil Foden. That’s a big part of my game.”
“By always making runs, I don’t have to receive the ball. Usually I don’t receive the ball, but against Galatasaray I was given the ball and I scored a goal, so it was good.”
“Sometimes it’s easy to score goals”
Arguably, there are traces in Haaland’s game of a footballing heritage beyond that of his father, Alf Inge, who represented City, Leeds and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League for a decade.
For such a prolific figure in front of goal, the man himself seeks to unravel the mysteries of his incredible goalscoring record, suggesting there is a surprisingly simple philosophy behind his astonishing numbers.
Reflecting on his growth, he explained that his rise was not shaped by obsession, but rather by instinct.
Haaland said of how he learned to score so relentlessly: “First of all, there were a lot of things I knew I was good at.
“Sometimes the way we score goals is ‘easy’, but don’t get us wrong.
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“You just put the ball in behind, run and score. If you look at the goal I scored against Galatasaray, that’s a perfect example of that. But a lot of it comes from myself.
“I’ve seen other players, I’ve seen goals from players like Thierry Henry. You can take little things from some of the goals he’s scored and a lot of different strikers.
“But you’re the type to go your own way, and I think that’s a good thing. If you’re young and you want to get better…I’ve always wanted to be better…but I also just wanted to enjoy playing soccer when I was younger.”
“I didn’t think, ‘Oh, I have to practice hard and be good at this and that,’ because playing football was good, and when you do good things you want to do it more.
“Then you become good at it too. I was lucky to have good talent and good people around me, which is important too, because I had the mentality to train a lot as well.”
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“I’m living the dream, that’s my motivation.”
Haaland has made it clear that his biggest rival is not the enemy, but complacency.
Speaking about his daily mindset and sense of responsibility, he emphasized to Hargreaves the influence of his environment at City, particularly the guidance of manager Josep Guardiola, who maintained the club’s exacting standards.
The former Borussia Dortmund striker reflected on the source of his constant motivation: “Motivation must always be within yourself.
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“How I approach every day, how I wake up with the right mindset: ‘I’m playing for Man City again today’. In fact, I’m living the dream of hundreds of millions of people in this world, so that in itself is a motivation for me.”
“Standing here and talking about my goals and records is a way of motivating myself. The fact that people look up to me is motivation in itself, and for me it’s about continuing, not getting hurt, doing the right thing, staying around the right people and keeping moving forward.”
“When I talk about good people around me, I don’t just mean my friends, I mean the people at the club. I’m lucky to be at a club with so many good people and to be with Pep, who pushes us every day.”
“I’m lucky to have worked with Pep for three and a half years. It’s been a great time, as everyone knows, and no matter what happens in the future, we still need to keep pushing. I need to keep pushing to make ourselves and those around us better.”
