Kolo Toure says facing Erling Haaland would keep him awake at night

Manchester City assistant manager Kolo Toure admits the prospect of facing Erling Haaland would have kept him awake at night.

Former Ivory Coast defender Toure, now 44, rarely seemed to shirk a challenge during his years playing in the Premier League, which saw him win titles with Arsenal and City.

Yet Toure concedes that when coming up against the best of the era – as he views Haaland now – he could struggle sleeping.

“I won’t tell you how I would stop him,” Toure told media, mindful of the information he could hand opponents.

“But I always say to him – when I had to play against a top striker, it was always hard to sleep at night.

“And I always say to him, ‘Erling, a lot of them won’t be sleeping before playing you!’

“That’s what it’s like when you have to play against a top striker.”

Even by his high standards, Haaland is enjoying an extraordinary season, having already netted 34 times in 26 appearances for club and country.

His efforts have helped Norway qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 and a goal against Fulham earlier this month took him to a Premier League century in a record 111 games.

Toure, who also had spells with Liverpool and Celtic before moving into coaching, joined Pep Guardiola’s backroom staff in the summer. He believes the Norwegian is among the best he has ever seen.

He said: “I help Erling by telling him stuff about what defenders don’t like.

“I would say he’s right at the top with Thierry (Henry) or (Alan) Shearer but what I really like from Erling is he’s a humble guy.

“He’s an incredible person. There is still big room for improvement and he’s open to advice.

“When you have a top player like that it can go to their head very quickly but he’s so down to earth, and this is incredible.

“I think in the future he will be even better because he’s a top player and a top person as well.”