Manchester City's Erling Haaland is on the cusp of breaking Alan Shearer's record for the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals. The stage is set for this weekend's game against Newcastle at St. James' Park, a ground where Shearer is revered.

Haaland has reached 99 goals in just 108 appearances for City. Shearer set the benchmark at 124 games. Haaland is poised to shatter the record with 16 games to spare.

"[I]f he stays a long, long time and continues this average, he will be close to Harry Kane and close to Alan Shearer, that's for sure,” said City boss Pep Guardiola. "But I don't know what's going to happen in the future, to be honest".

Shearer, who won the Premier League title with Blackburn in 1995 before joining his boyhood club Newcastle, holds the record for the most Premier League goals with 260, with Harry Kane trailing behind at 213. While Haaland is under contract with City until 2034, that record is still a long way off.

Despite the anticipation surrounding Haaland's potential record-breaking feat, Guardiola emphasized Shearer's enduring legacy. "[W]hatever happens with Erling in his career here, Alan Shearer will still be top (for) his quality to score goals," Guardiola stated. He also noted Shearer's Premier League title win. Guardiola said that he admires players with resilience who perform consistently over many seasons.

Haaland's journey to this point has been nothing short of phenomenal. In his debut season, he scored a record-breaking 36 goals in 35 games, surpassing the previous record of 34 jointly held by Shearer and Andy Cole. His goal-scoring rate is the best in Premier League history among players with significant appearances. He was the fastest to reach 50 Premier League goals in 48 games and 75 goals in 77 games. It took him only 94 games to record 100 goal involvements.

Looking back at other players who reached the 100-goal mark, Harry Kane took 141 games, Sergio Agüero 147, Thierry Henry 160, and Mohamed Salah 162. Shearer's goals-per-game ratio was 0.81.

Haaland recently scored twice in Norway's 4-1 World Cup qualifying win over Italy, bringing his total to 16 goals in eight qualifiers.