- Rafael van der Vaart believes Erling Haaland is not a world-class player
- The former Spurs man has hit out at Haaland amid Man City’s slump in form
- LISTEN NOW: Manchester City correspondent Jack Gaughan joins It’s All Kicking Off! to explain whether Pep Guardiola will have money to spend in January
Former Tottenham playmaker Rafael van der Vaart has sensationally claimed that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is not a world-class player.
Since arriving in England just over two years ago, Haaland has scored 107 goals in 117 appearances for City, helping the club win the Treble in his first season before they retained the Premier League title last term.
He has won the Golden Boot in his first two seasons at City, and is on course to claim it for a third time having netted 12 times in 13 outings in 2024-25.
However, City have hit a dismal run of form under Pep Guardiola, failing to win any of their last seven matches across all competitions. They were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday and are now 11 points behind the Reds in the league table.
The goals have dried up for Haaland during this winless run, and Van Der Vaart has accused Haaland of not contributing enough when he is not scoring.
Speaking about Haaland on talkSPORT’s show The LineUp, Van Der Vaart explained: ‘I always said, take away his pace, I think it’s a normal player. I don’t want to get rude to him, but technically-wise I think it’s normally not good enough.
Erling Haaland should not be considered a world-class player, according to Rafael van der Vaart
Ex-Spurs star Van Der Vaart believes Haaland is just a ‘normal player’ without his pace
Haaland has suffered a dip in form amid City’s run of seven games without a win under Pep Guardiola
‘Normally, City has the ball and he’s scored a lot of goals, but I miss something to talk about a world, world, world-class striker.’
Van Der Vaart, who spent two years at Spurs between 2010 and 2012 and won 109 caps for the Netherlands in his illustrious career, added that Haaland could not be compared to great strikers of the past, including two of his fellow countrymen.
‘When you compare him in the past to (Marco) Van Basten or (Ruud) Van Nistelrooy – no, no, no, no,’ he said.
When asked if Haaland belonged in the same category as the likes of Van Basten and Van Nistelrooy, Van Der Vaart doubled down, adding: ‘I don’t think so. People will laugh but that is my opinion.’
Haaland flew out of the traps at the start of the season by scoring 10 goals in his first five league games.
But his drop-off has coincided with City’s alarming slump in form which has led to some pundits ruling them out of the title race already.
Haaland struggled to have any impact in City’s defeat by Liverpool as he came off a distant second-best in his battle with Virgil van Dijk.
He will get the chance to silence some his doubters – including Van Der Vaart – when City bid to return to winning ways at home to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night.
