ARNE SLOT and Pep Guardiola both laid claim to having the planet’s No 1 striker.
Liverpool boss Slot yesterday declared new £130million signing Alexander Isak was “the best striker in the world”.
But title rival Pep Guardiola is adamant his Manchester City hitman Erling Haaland remains a cut “above” the Swedish superstar.
Guardiola said: “You ask what Erling is as a striker — he’s the top. Isak is an exceptional player.
“Erling is a bit above. Isak must be a top player for what they paid, obviously.
“Another person would say Kylian Mbappe, another Lionel Messi, another Cristiano Ronaldo.
“But I would not change Erling for anyone. I know him. He is incredible as a player, adorable as a person and I like him.”
Haaland goes into tomorrow’s Manchester derby with 88 league goals — more than any other Prem player has scored in their first 100 games.
The 25-year-old also hit FIVE goals for Norway in Tuesday’s 11-1 victory over Moldova in World Cup qualifying.
Isak had a contrasting international break with Sweden — playing just 18 minutes as his nation’s hopes of reaching the finals took a damaging hit.
He did not play in the first of Sweden’s games, a 2-2 draw in Slovenia, then came on as a substitute in their 2-0 loss in Kosovo.
It was 25-year-old Isak’s first appearance since the final day of last season — having missed all of Newcastle’s pre-season by going on strike to force through his move to Anfield.
It was a first step towards his Reds debut, which could come off the bench on Sunday when they travel to Burnley.
Slot — named Prem manager of the month for August — hailed Jon Dahl Tomasson for his handling of Isak.
He said: “The Swedish boss deserves a big compliment as he gets maybe the world’s best striker and needs to play two very important games for his country.
“But he understood if he played him twice for 90 minutes, then the player would be injured for multiple weeks.
“It is not always easy for a manager to take care of the interests of a player.
“We will treat Alex the same — so don’t expect him to be playing every single game 90 minutes.
“That is definitely not going to happen in the upcoming weeks.
“He missed a proper pre-season and we must build him up gradually with us playing so much.
“We signed him for six years — and the fans have to keep this in mind.”
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