A 'drop off' of only 32 goals in 40 games this season is still the envy of most strikers

THE NOISE OVER HAALAND'S IMPACT HAS SOFTENED THIS TERM

- JOE BRAY

HAD Erling Haaland scored 32 goals in 40 games last season, he would have been heralded as one of the signings of the season.

Instead, he is an afterthought in the conversation for Player of the Season, and the noise over his impact at City has softened since last season.

Of course, Haaland's numbers aren't as good as his sensational 50-goal campaign last term, where he helped City win the Treble and swept the board in the individual awards. He was unlucky not to win the Balon d'Or, and is seventh in the list for the 2024 award - still behind Lionel Messi.

Phil Foden and Rodri are ahead of him in the odds for the end of season accolades, but this is a player with more goals, a goal involvement every 87 minutes, and he needs just three more strikes in his final five games to equal Franny Lee's 35 in a season from 1972 which had not been beaten until the Norwegian smashed that record last year.