Erling Haaland would walk into the Liverpool team, with Bayern Munich being the only club he may not start for.
That is the view of Arsenal legend Perry Groves, who has waxed lyrical over the Manchester City striker following his five-goal haul away at Luton.
talkSPORT host Mark Goldbridge recently caused a stir when he insisted that the 23-year-old wouldn’t start ahead of Darwin Nunez at Anfield.
That is despite the Norway international banging in 79 goals in just 83 games since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
And Groves, who won two league titles with the Gunners, believes Haaland is one of the top two centre-forwards in world football.
While Haaland scooped the European Golden Boot last term, Kane is currently in contention to win the prestigious award with 27 league goals so far in Germany.
Responding to Goldbridge’s claim, Groves said on talkSPORT: “I can’t say he’s further from the truth about Erling Haaland playing for any other club side in the world – he gets in.
“Maybe Bayern Munich is the only one, only because of Harry Kane obviously playing up front through the centre and is doing brilliantly well.
“They’re two different sorts of players.
“He suits Liverpool to a tee, Liverpool close down, Man City close down, Erling Haaland is the one that starts off the press. That’s how Liverpool play.
“And if you think of Darwin Nunez who I’m a big fan of, Erling Haaland is probably a season-and-a-half to two seasons further ahead in his development of Nunez.
“Darwin Nunez gets loads of chances, he’s a bit erratic when he’s got time to think, but when he hasn’t, he’s an instinctive finisher.
“So I think that’s ridiculous, I think he gets in any team.”
Groves added: “Erling Haaland can develop to any system, and what you do is, you develop to him as well.
“It’s not as if he isn’t mobile, he might be a viking – 6ft 5in – but he’s unbelievably quick, strong, quick off the mark as well.
“He closes, he’s not lazy – you don’t have lazy players when it comes to Man City – and that’s exactly the same thing at Liverpool.”