Erling Haaland is reaching the levels of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, so says Pep Guardiola.
Haaland marked his 100th appearance for Manchester City with his 91st goal for the club in a 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.
The Norway forward has been directly involved in 106 goals for City.
And Guardiola believes the 24-year-old's record can be compared to the exploits of Messi and Ronaldo.
Guardiola said: "He has the numbers for Messi and Ronaldo, who controlled the last decade, 15 years, absolutely everything. In terms of the numbers, it is that level."
Despite his manager's praise, the data does not suggest Haaland is quite yet at the level of Messi or Ronaldo during their most fruitful campaigns.
Haaland has managed a goal on average every 88 minutes since joining City two years ago.
However, during Messi's best goalscoring season (2012-13), he managed a goal every 67 minutes in all competitions for Barcelona.
Meanwhile, in the 2014-15 season while at Real Madrid, Ronaldo scored every 76 minutes.
Norway did not qualify for Euro 2024, and Guardiola thinks Haaland has benefited from his extended rest this summer, as City began their hunt for a record fifth successive Premier League title in style.
He said: "I had a feeling that he feels better than last season at this stage. After last season, he felt a bit [so-so] or felt he was tired.
"This season, I think for the Euros unfortunately Norway were not there, there was more rest and he feels good."
Lazio off to winning start but Roma and Bologna stutter in Serie A openers
Lazio got their Serie A campaign off to a winning start with a 3-1 victory over newly promoted Venezia.
Visitors Venezia took a shock lead through Magnus Kofod Andersen just three minutes into the match, but Lazio roared back through Valentin Castellanos eight minutes later.
A penalty from captain Mattia Zaccagni put Lazio ahead on the stroke of half-time. The Italy international has now directly contributed to 35 goals in Serie A since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, second only to Antonio Candreva (40) among midfielders.
Venezia mustered seven shots in the second half, but their comeback hopes were extinguished when Giorgio Altare turned into his own goal late on.
Lazio's city rivals Roma did not fare as well, only managing a goalless draw away to Cagliari, with both sides hitting the woodwork in that contest.
Elsewhere, Udinese began their league season with a credible draw away at Bologna.
Vincenzo Italiano's first competitive game in charge of Bologna saw them dominate the match with 22 shots to Udinese's four, and they took the lead through a Riccardo Orsolini penalty.
Orsolini is the second Bologna player to score in seven different Serie A seasons in the past 50 years, after Carlo Nervo (seven between 1996-97 and 2003-04).
But Udinese managed to draw level through Lautaro Giannetti in the 68th minute, and held on for the remainder of the encounter to deny Italiano an ideal start.
Real Mallorca 1-1 Real Madrid: Mbappe's LaLiga debut ends all square
Real Madrid's LaLiga title defence got off to a limp start as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Mallorca.
Vedat Muriqi's second-half header for the home side cancelled out Rodrygo's early strike and denied Kylian Mbappe a win on his domestic debut.
Madrid started well and took the lead thanks to a fine curling strike by Brazilian forward Rodrygo, who was cutely assisted by a backheel pass from compatriot Vinicius Junior in the 13th minute.
However, Muriqi netted a powerful header from a corner in the 53rd minute to level for Mallorca, who had gone close when Thibaut Courtois fumbled a shot before the break.
Mbappe twice went close to restoring Madrid's lead, first hitting the post from a tight angle before seeing a low effort saved by Dominik Greif, with Johan Mojica making a fantastic clearance to prevent Rodrygo getting onto the rebound.
Madrid's frustrations boiled over just before full-time - defender Ferland Mendy shown a straight red for a rash lunge.
Data Debrief: Ancelotti's run ends
Madrid have failed to win their opening game of a LaLiga season for the first time in six seasons under Carlo Ancelotti, while this is just the sixth time they have started a campaign in the competition with a draw in the 21st century.
Rodrygo grabbed the champions' first goal of the season. He now has 50 LaLiga goal contributions (27 goals, 23 assists) in 143 matches, having also netted Los Blancos' first league strike last term.
Frank denies Toney is close to exit despite missing Brentford's season opener
Thomas Frank revealed that Ivan Toney is not on the verge of leaving Brentford despite his absence from the Bees' squad against Crystal Palace.
Frank left Toney out of his squad for Brentford's Premier League opener on Sunday.
The Dane said that decision was due to transfer speculation concerning the England forward, whose absence was ultimately not felt too keenly as Brentford claimed a 2-1 win.
The 28-year-old has caught the attention of a number of English sides and teams in the Saudi Pro League, but Frank was quick to quash any rumours that suggested he was on the brink of departing.
Asked whether Toney was on the cusp of a move, Frank replied: "No, it’s not close.”
However, Frank still seemed resigned to Toney eventually leaving.
Asked by BBC Radio 5 Live if it was a matter of when and not if Toney left, he said: "Yes, I guess that's fair."
Losing Toney, who has scored 72 goals in 141 appearances for the Bees since joining in 2020, would be a huge blow, but Frank is confident other players can step up.
He said: "I think Ivan is a top player. He has been a top player and one of our best players, if not the best player over a long spell.
"All the top players in the Premier League, one day they will leave the club and someone will have to step up and do well."
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