'Robin Van Persie Says Erling Haaland Is 'An Unbelievable' Player

Robin van Persie has described Erling Haaland as an 'unbelievable player' and has said the Borussia Dortmund striker is 'ridiculous.'

Haaland has taken football by storm this season and scored a brace in his first ever Champions League knockout game on Tuesday night as Borussia Dortmund beat PSG 2-1.

Speaking exclusively to SPORTbible Van Persie, who scored 25 goals in the competition throughout his career, has branded the Norwegian's stats this season as ridiculous. "Yeah, he's unreal. I don't think I've seen a young player reaching those stats. At Salzburg I didn't see him play but I saw the stats and thought 'wow, okay interesting.'

"Now at Dortmund he's breaking every single record, he keeps on scoring. First three games he came on twice, only played an hour, scored five goals. It's ridiculous, ridiculous stats. An unbelievable player.

"Wow, what a start to his career."

Haaland might only be in his first season in Europe's elite club competition but at 19-years-old he's already on the way to beating Van Persie's record.

In just seven games, for both Red Bull Salzburg and Dortmund, the youngster has scored 10 goals and he's likely to be involved in at least one more game in the Champions League this season, the second leg.

The striker, the son of former Leeds United and Manchester City player Alf Inge Haaland, opened the scoring in Germany before Neymar grabbed an equaliser.

Just a couple of minutes later the former Molde forward scored his second of the night, and 10th in just six games since moving to Germany in January, with a goal that made the most perfect sound when hitting the back of the net.

The strike...
The scenes...
The SOUND!

Enjoy Erling Haaland's spectacular winning goal vs PSG from every beautiful angle 😍 pic.twitter.com/4OhGho3TaM
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 19, 2020

Haaland was linked with a move to Van Persie's former side Manchester United in the January transfer window but decided instead to move to the Bundesliga, a move which is so far paying off.

The wonderkid is certainly a big fan of the Champions League and revealed earlier this season that he wakes up to the competition anthem everyday.

Van Persie is suitably impressed by Haaland. Image: Enterprise

It's a good job he likes the tournament, and its anthem, because he's going to become very closely connected to it and quickly, at his current rate he'll have more goals in the Champions League than Thierry Henry, in seventh place on the all time list, before he reaches his 25th birthday.

Robin Van Persie is partnering with UEFA Europa League sponsor Enterprise Rent-A-Car on their Europa Road Trip campaign, celebrating the unique destinations of this season's competition. To discover more and to enjoy special rates across Europe, visit www.enterprise.co.uk/UEL.