Erling Haaland has declared Phil Foden is an "amazing player" - but tempered his praise by insisting his new Manchester City teammate still has some learning to do.
Haaland, 21, and Foden, 22, will join forces at the Etihad this summer as the former has completed his £51million transfer from Borussia Dortmund. The Norwegian striker scored an astonishing 86 goals in 89 appearances during two-and-a-half years with the German club to establish himself as one of Europe's most-sought after players.
At City, he will hope to form a potent partnership with playmaker Foden, who was crowned Men's PFA Young Player of the Year for the second time in a row after another stellar season. The thought of such a union will strike fear into Premier League defences, but Haaland believes his English colleague "still has to develop" before "we can really talk".
"As I say, I've been watching a lot of City games over the last... as long as I can remember," Haaland told City in his first interview with the club. "So, of course I've also watched Phil - he's an amazing player, still talented because he's still young. He's an amazing player, he still has to develop and then we can really talk."
Haaland grabbed 29 goals and eight assists during an injury-struck 2021/22 campaign while Foden chipped in with 14 goals and 11 assists for Pep Guardiola's side. It will be fascinating to see how the City boss utilises the duo - and his star-studded attackers on the whole - as he frequently deployed Foden as a false-nine last season.
The Three Lions star is capable of playing across the frontline or in a deeper role and he will probably have to, given Haaland is expected to have a stranglehold on the No. 9 berth.
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Foden and Haaland came face to face during the Champions League quarter-finals in the 2020/21 season and were seen having a chat after the full-time whistle blew in the second leg. Foden scored twice across the two legs to steer City to a 4-2 aggregate victory and later insisted he was only talking about "the game in general" with the then-Dortmund ace.
The City academy graduate has since reacted to Haaland's arrival, hailing his incoming teammate as a "great addition", especially as the Sky Blues "played without a striker this year". The player to make way for the former Molde prospect is expected to be Gabriel Jesus, who is attracting interest from Arsenal and a host of other clubs.
