Erling Haaland has become the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals in history, achieving this achievement after only 111 appearances for Manchester City in the match against Fulham earlier this month.
After less than three and a half seasons playing at the Etihad, the 25-year-old striker has risen to 34th place in the Premier League's all-time scoring list, just three goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo (103 goals). With an incredible scoring rate, Haaland is expected to soon join the "200-goal club" with Wayne Rooney (208), Harry Kane (213) and Alan Shearer (260).
Alan Shearer - a former striker of Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United - still holds the record for the most goals in the history of the English top flight with 283 goals, including 23 goals for Southampton before the Premier League was officially launched in the 1992-1933 season. However, this seemingly unstoppable record is now in Haaland's grasp.
After reaching the milestone of 100 goals, the Norwegian striker modestly shared: "I know about that, but I don't think too much about it." However, the numbers show that Haaland has every basis to dream of surpassing the English legend.
With his current performance, Haaland needs to average 25 goals per season in the next six seasons to get closer to Shearer's record. Even in the scenario where he played the full remaining 8 and a half seasons in his contract with Man City (until the 2033-2034 season), Haaland still only needs to maintain an average of about 18 goals per season in the Premier League.
With unusual stability in a top-class striker, the 260-goal mark seems to be completely within Haaland's reach. However, to truly overcome Shearer and become the greatest striker in Premier League history, the Norwegian star still has to face many major obstacles ahead.
However, despite the obstacles Haaland may face, if he continues to work for Man City until the end of his contract, the possibility of him breaking Shearer's scoring record is almost certain.
Even in the worst-case scenario - a persistent injury or a prolonged period of decline in form - Haaland still has up to eight and a half years left on his current contract. With that time, it was almost unimaginable that he could not get past Shearer.
However, the biggest question mark is not his form or fitness, but the possibility of Haaland being ready to stay with Man City for a long time. Uncertainty surrounding Pep Guardiola's future, along with 115 pending financial allegations, could directly affect the Norwegian striker's decision.
The most likely scenario is that Haaland will soon reach the 200-goal mark in the Premier League, before the appeal of a new challenge in another environment becomes more attractive than Shearer's record-taking opportunity.
Therefore, at the moment, Shearer's scoring record is probably safer than many people thought.
