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A couple of Wednesdays ago, with memories of Kylian Mbappe's hat trick in 39 minutes still dancing in my head, I pondered the Erling Braut Haaland question and suggested on Twitter it would be "neat" if the pair developed some sort of redux version of the Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi duopoly over the next 15 years.

In addition to the usual white noise nonsense that any mention of the latter pair will bring -- "It's not a real rivalry because Cristiano/Messi is so much better than Cristiano/Messi" -- plenty raised the following, very legitimate, query.

"Mbappe has nearly 200 senior appearances which is roughly three times that of Haaland. He has three full seasons in Ligue 1 under his belt, whereas Haaland has thus far played in Norway and Austria. He has 33 caps and has won a World Cup as a protagonist. Haaland has played for Norway twice. Mbappe is 20 months older so Haaland can catch up, sure, but why would you even suggest that the pair belong in the same conversation?"

Perhaps one of the reasons is that Haaland himself raised the issue.

Back in January, he was asked by Norwegian daily Verdens Gang about his development. "Maybe it has gone fast if you compare me with a Norwegian 18-year-old in the fourth tier, but not if you compare me to Mbappe ... then it's going very slow," he said.

Stop and think about it for a moment. What kind of kid that age, fresh off a move to Salzburg -- not Real Madrid, but Salzburg, who for all the fizzy drink hype of its sponsor is still a little bro in the Taurine Empire -- compares himself to Mbappe, a world champion and the second most expensive player in the history of the universe? This is the sort of stuff Zlatan Ibrahimovic might say. (It's not a coincidence that Haaland has no qualms about comparing himself to the Big Swede either: "He's a fellow Scandinavian, someone will have to take over from him one day." Or Muhammad Ali. Or Kid Rock: "They call me cocky and I say what?!? It ain't bragging if you back it up!"

Has he backed it up? And are these two the next iteration of Messi vs. Ronaldo?

Haaland made five appearances (four of them as a substitute) for Salzburg last season as he settled into an entirely new culture, scoring one goal. He scored 11 goals in five games for the Norwegian Under-20 team, although nine of them came in a single game against Honduras that his team won 12-0. (Still, that tells you something: what kind of guy runs up the score like that in a meaningless game? Either a flat-track bully or a striker who is singularly obsessed with scoring.)

Which brings us to this season. He's scored 20 goals in 13 appearances in all competitions, including six in the Champions League where he's currently the top scorer. This is where the knee-jerk gang -- "it's only Norway/Austria" -- come in. OK, sure. It was only Austria when Sadio Mane played there too, and he turned out fine.

More to the point, those six Champions League goals weigh heavily: they came against Genk, Napoli and Liverpool. (He had the flu at Anfield and only played a half). Or, from a different perspective, he has scored three goals in three halves of football against Kalidou Koulibaly and Virgil Van Dijk.

How's that for a solid case?