Erling Haaland seems like the pundits’ favourite to retain the Golden Boot once again this season.
Matt Holland claimed Haaland will break his own Premier League goalscoring record for a single campaign of 36 goals by scoring a staggering 37 during the 2024/2025 season.
On The Overlap’s Stick To Football show as well, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Jill Scott predicted the Manchester City marksman to win the Golden Boot.
Diogo Jota also described Haaland as “scary” — summing up how he is even viewed by his peers.
Such is the £376.846-a-week man’s brilliance that despite being just 24, he commands respect from even some of the best strikers in Europe, such as Jota in this instance.
Jan Aage Fjortoft backed Haaland to score as many as 45 goals this season in all competitions — noting how the time he had to rest during Euro 2024 could play a part in him having another extraordinary campaign.
Bowen makes Haaland claim amid Golden Boot dream
The Norwegian international will be hoping to dominate the goalscoring charts in a season where City could make more history by winning five league titles in a row.
Micah Richards claimed that if Haaland remains injury-free, he has no doubts that the Sky Blues will pip Arsenal to the league title.
The two-time Premier League winner’s goalscoring prowess and influence on arguably the best team in the world cannot be overstated.
While speaking to Sky Sports, Jarrod Bowen admitted that while he would love to take home the Golden Boot, he feels it is highly unlikely due to the presence of strikers like Haaland in the Premier League.
Bowen said: “We’ve got [Erling] Haaland in the league for one.”
“He scores a lot of goals so I’d love to be up there for Golden Boot. But I just think with the strikers that play number nine, Haaland, [Dominic] Solanke, [Alexander] Isak, there’s so many goalscorers in the league that have scored so many goals over the years. Ollie Watkins as well scores so many goals as well.”
The West Ham United winger concluded: “So, I’d like to back myself but yeah, I’d like to score as many goals as possible but yeah, the Golden Boot might just be over. Obviously, I want to but I’m thinking in my real head. My real head switched on.”
In March, Bowen revealed he was studying Haaland’s game as David Moyes converted him into a number nine last season.
A testament to the greatness of Erling Haaland that Jarrod Bowen made such an admission
Considering he scored 16 goals in the league during the previous campaign, the England international would be justified in backing himself to kick on and potentially win the Golden Boot.
However, Haaland has redefined the standards of goalscoring in the Premier League since joining Manchester City — leading Bowen to be understandably hesitant about declaring he could pip a striker like him in the goalscoring charts.
While the former Hull City forward mentioned other top frontmen like Solanke, Isak and Watkins, the fact that he instantly named the treble-winner is an indicator of how he is considered the benchmark for goalscoring in English football.
Amongst both the pundits and current players, there is a sense of resignation that stems from comparing any goalscorer in the Premier League to Haaland.
The Leeds-born hitman will be hoping to live up to his revered status once again this season and he would hoping to get off the mark against Chelsea on Sunday.