Carragher: Why Man City striker Haaland not world class

Liverpool hero Jamie Carragher has declared Erling Haaland "not world class".

The Manchester City striker's all-round game has been criticised by pundits in recent weeks.

Carragher told Sky Sports: "Erling Haaland is the luxury footballer for excellence. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest scorers in the world, but he has not yet become a world-class player. To be truly world-class he must start making a difference even against great defenders. Van Dijk, Saliba and Rudiger will not admit it publicly, but after Liverpool, Arsenal and Real Madrid's matches against Manchester City, they all left the pitch convinced that they faced much more difficult tasks than keeping Haaland quiet.

"If your only interest is breaking goalscoring records, you don't need to change anything. However, if you have serious ambitions of winning the Ballon d'Or and playing for Real Madrid, you might have a problem. He must add more to his game to make the leap and seriously challenge his rival for the title of best player of his generation, Kylian Mbapp.

"To play as a centre-forward in a club of Real's caliber you have to be versatile. Karim Benzema was seriously underestimated. Mbapp, who should arrive at Real Madrid this summer, is much more than a striker."