Viral tweet claims Erling Haaland has become what Zlatan Ibrahimovic 'thinks he always was,' fans can't believe it

A viral tweet from a fan has claimed that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is what Zlatan Ibrahimovic “thinks he always was” -- and the take has sent social media into a frenzy.  

Haaland has been firing on all cylinders for Pep Guardiola’s men since his sensational £51m summer move from Borussia Dortmund.

The 22-year-old City striker has scored an incredible 15 times in nine Premier League appearances, which is only eight shy of last season’s Golden Boot winners.

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Haaland, who already has three Premier League hat-tricks to his name, has carried over his dynamite form to the Champions League by scoring five times in three appearances for City.

Twitter user John Parker went viral on Twitter after his praise of Haaland simultaneously fired a dig at Ibrahimovic, who is widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time.

“Erling Haaland is what Zlatan thinks he always was,” he tweeted on 7th October.

Erling Haaland is what Zlatan thinks he always was.

— John Parker (@jpforsoccer) October 7, 2022

Parker’s hot take on Ibrahimovic sent his tweet viral on social media, with one furious fan suggesting that it showed “embarrassing ball knowledge.”

Another Twitter user wrote: “Zlatan is one of the greatest footballers ever, respect that man.”

“Prime Zlatan in this current Man City team would have more goals and assists than Haaland does right now. Facts,” a third fan tweeted.

Someone else argued: “Zlatan literally lives on consistency. Haaland is yet to pass that test.”

While a fifth added: “Haaland will never have the ball control Zlatan had.”

Despite the large swarm of fans feeling that Ibrahimovic is being ‘disrespected,’ others were quick to agree with the take and put Haaland ahead of the AC Milan striker.

“Haaland [has] outdone Zlatan’s [Champions League] legacy at 21 and has more 20+ goals seasons outside France than him,” one fan wrote.

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Another suggested: “Zlatan and Haaland are basically the same player except Zlatan is an elite dribbler and Haaland’s a pace monster and extremely intelligent.”

A third commented: “Both are prolific but Haaland could easily take over him, Zlatan is more famous for his personality than football nowadays.”

And a fourth added: “Good take. Zlatan is an overrated player.”