Erling Haaland, who has already scored 47 goals in 48 matches for Borussia Dortmund, says he always puts the team first. - © imago images
Erling Haaland, who has already scored 47 goals in 48 matches for Borussia Dortmund, says he always puts the team first. - © imago images
bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland: "I know I can do even better in the future"

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Erling Haaland has said that while he wants to become the best goalscorer in the Bundesliga, winning games for Borussia Dortmund comes first.

Haaland has had an incredible first 14 months in Germany's top flight, scoring 13 league goals in 15 matches during the 2019/20 campaign and adding 19 in 20 games so far this term.

The Norwegian is 13 behind Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski in this season's Bundesliga scoring charts, but he believes that helping Dortmund to a top-four finish is more important than any personal milestone.

"I want to be the best goalscorer in the Bundesliga," he told France Football magazine. "But I'm not someone who thinks about records all the time. It's not my thing. I think of my team and to help it as best I can. Nothing else."

Watch: Check out all of Haaland's Bundesliga goals

Haaland, though, is already breaking plenty of records. Earlier this month his double against Sevilla not only helped Dortmund into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, but also made him the fastest and youngest player to reach 20 goals in the competition.

The 20-year-old has now netted 20 times in just 14 Champions League matches, with 10 of those strikes coming in his six games this season.

"Since I was a child, I knew that I would be capable of producing such performances," he said of his current form. "I knew that I could make the difference. And I know that I can do even better in the future too."

Erling Haaland scored four goals in two matches against Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League to help Borussia Dortmund reach the quarter-finals - imago images

The sense that Haaland is only getting started must be a terrifying one for his opponents, but the former Molde striker - who arrived in Germany from Salzburg in January 2020 - insists that there is plenty more to come.

"I try to work as hard as possible to become the best footballer that I can be," he said. "So I work hard - as hard as I can. As hard as my body is capable of taking."

Next in the sights of Haaland and fifth-placed Dortmund are Cologne, who have home advantage in Saturday's Matchday 26 fixture.