We must look beyond the brute numbers to really appreciate Haaland’s legend

Perhaps the data-soaked discourse of modern football actually does this Premier League centurion something of a disservice.

Manchester City's Erling Haaland. Pic: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire.

Stack them up. Pile them high. Sort them and arrange them, parse them and categorise them, order them to your table like items in a Chinese restaurant. Personal favourites? Give me the No 33 against Arsenal, the one with the flowing hair. 

I’ll also take a No 81 against Chelsea, when he spots a hapless Robert Sánchez out of goal, and lobs him deliciously from the edge of the area.