Joe Cole says Man City have a player who could be one of the greatest of all time in five years

Joe Cole has claimed Erling Haaland has the potential to go down as one of the greatest strikers of all time in five years.

In November, Michael Bridges claimed that the 23-year-old is the best number nine to have ever graced the Premier League.

But to some others, Erling Haaland still has a long way to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath as some of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the game.

Joe Cole says Erling Haaland could become one of the greatest strikers of all time in five years

In December, Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard named his countryman as a part of his all-time five-a-side team alongside some of the greatest players of all time.

The Manchester City frontman has been so devastatingly brilliant in the last few years that many debate whether he is already an all-time great or whether he must prove himself as one as time progresses.

Joe Cole and Peter Crouch debated which category Erling Haaland should be added to as part of a tier list of legendary strikers during a video with FIVE’s official YouTube channel.

Crouch said, “Obviously, he’s not [in the] GOAT [greatest of all time tier]. Yeah, but it’s only because of his age. So, I’m looking at some of these names and the longevity of them. You know, I’m going deep with it.”

Joe Cole made a huge claim about Erling Haaland, saying, “Yeah, I’m with you. I think we put him on [the] world-class [tier], right but in five years’ time, he could definitely be in [the] elite [tier] and he could be on [the] GOAT [tier].”

Peter Crouch replied, “But I’m talking when he’s in his 30s, that’s when you…[put him in the greatest of all time tier of strikers].”

When the presenter, Joel Beya argued Ronaldo Nazario was injured quite a lot, the former Chelsea midfielder replied, “Yeah but he’d already won Golden Boots and World Cups and Ballon d’Or’s so…”

After Joe Cole and his fellow Englishman were finished debating, Erling Haaland was added to the elite tier of strikers.

Erling Haaland could be up there by then

It is hard to disagree with Joe Cole about Erling Haaland, especially considering how talented he is.

With how unique a striker Haaland is and how much he has achieved already, in five years, he could be up there with some of the greatest goalscorers in history, as Cole said.

So far, however, it is fair not to claim the Norwegian is already on the same level as number nines who could be considered the greatest, as Peter Crouch insisted.