63 goals and counting - how long would Haaland need to stay in the PL to beat Shearer's record?

It's easy to forget the sheer revelation Erling Haaland has been since arriving in the Premier League in the summer of 2022. We have already become so used to him scoring unprecedented amounts of goals. The Norwegian, barring a miracle, will be crowned the division's golden boot winner for a second year running, having already scored 27 goals for Manchester City this season. Add that to the record breaking 36 goals notched last campaign, and the 24-year-old already has 63 Premier League goals. For context that is more than the likes of Eidur Gudjohnsen, Alexandre Lacazette and David Beckham managed in their entire careers. He's only six goals behind Luis Suárez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. A true goalscoring machine.

No player has ever scored more goals in their first two seasons as a Premier League player. Man City are one win away from winning a record fourth Premier League title in a row, and Haaland will have  been a huge part of the latest two. It remains to be seen how long Haaland will stay in the English top-flight, but how long would he actually need to stay to beat Alan Shearer's record of 260 goals? How long would he need to stay to beat Sergio Agüero's 184 goals and become Man City's all-time top Premier League scorer? And how long would he need to stay to get in the exclusive Premier League 100 club? At Transfermarkt, we have worked it all out.

How long would Erling Haaland need to stay in the Premier League to beat Alan Shearer's record

Shearer is the Premier League's greatest ever goalscorer. The Englishmen scored 260 goals across spells at Southampton, Blackburn and his beloved Newcastle. Many thought Harry Kane could be the man to go on beat the record, but the England captain departed for Bayern Munich last summer on 213 goals. It seems crazy to already be talking about a player potentially beating the record after just two seasons in the Premier League, but Haaland's numbers truly are crazy. This isn't a normal player. Below you can see his goals per game ratio of 0.97 trumps Shearer's 0.58.

Of course whether Haaland can recreate the longevity of Shearer remains to be seen, but at his current scoring rate he would need to play just 270 games to become the Premier League's all-time top scorer. He has already played 65, so that's just 205 more matches. If he played every game, that's just 5.39 seasons. Whilst it will be difficult to continue his remarkable numbers, people often discuss how long it takes to adapt to the Premier League. If Haaland is still adapting, who knows what numbers he could post in the next two or three seasons. It is too early for Shearer to be sweating just yet, but should Haaland commit his long term future to England, he could be destined for the top. 

How long would Erling Haaland need to stay in the Premier League to become Man City's all-time top scorer

Another long term goal potentially in Haaland's sights could be becoming Man City's all-time top goalscorer in the Premier League - an even more achievable task. Agüero currently holds that feat with 184 goals. That makes the Argentine the fifth all-time top goalscorer in the English top flight. If Haaland was to keep up his current heroics, it would take him a further 126 games to become the outright number one for the Sky Blues. Around four seasons. 

As you can see in the graphic above, Agüero held a pretty deadly scoring rate himself of 0.67 goals per game, which is particularly impressive when you consider he spent 10 seasons in the Premier League. The Argentine also holds the records for the most ever hat-tricks in the English top-flight with 12 - another record Haaland will no doubt have his sights on. However, it did take Agüero almost double the amount of games as Haaland to get to 50 Premier League goals. 

How long would Erling Haaland need to stay to get in the Premier League 100 club

There are currently 34 members of the exclusive Premier League 100 club (players to have scored 100 or more Premier League goals) with the latest inductee Tottenham's Heung-Min Son in 2023. It seems an inevitability that Haaland will be joining this group. He could feasibly even do it next season, if he could repeat the numbers of his first campaign in English football. At his current scoring rate of 0.97 goals per game, he would need just 39 more games to hit 100 Premier League goals.