Pep Guardiola believes three players are capable of replacing Erling Haaland for Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola has named three players who can replace Erling Haaland after he scored his seventh Premier League hat-trick on Saturday.

Having opened his account for the season against Chelsea last week, Haaland found the net three times in the 4-1 win over Ipswich Town.

The Norwegian sensation now has 10 hat-tricks in a City shirt, as well as an incredible tally of 94 goals in 101 games for the club.

A full pre-season has Haaland fresh and ready to win the Premier League Golden Boot for a third consecutive season.

He did miss parts of last season with a foot problem and this time around, City do not have Julian Alvarez to fill in after he moved to Atletico Madrid in a £81 million switch.

Although City look to compete on all fronts, they are not expected to go into the market for another striker.

Yet Guardiola believes Phil Foden, James McAtee and the returning Ilkay Gundogan can all deputise.

Image: Getty

Prior to Haaland’s arrival, City had around two seasons playing with a false nine – with the likes of Foden, Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne all filling in.

“Erling cannot play every game,” Guardiola told beIN Sports. The absence of Oscar Bobb is a big, big blow.

“But Phil (Foden) can play there, close to the box. (James) McAtee can play there, because he’s really good in these spaces, and even Gundo can play there.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen at the end of the market, but I think we’re going to continue in that way.”

In the same interview, Guardiola was asked if Haaland is the most complete centre-forward he had seen.

Image: Getty

And the Catalan strongly disagreed, instead bringing up eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi.

“The most incredible forward that has ever seen is Messi,” Guardiola admitted.

“I never saw something like that.”

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