Second Erling Haaland petition goes even further amid Man City striker's dominance

Desperate football fans are creating petitions to try and stop Manchester City ace Erling Haaland. Supporters across the country have been left stunned by the 22-year-old’s transition to life in the Premier League.

In just 13 appearances across all competitions, the City talisman - who arrived from Borussia Dortmund in May for €60million - has bagged 20 goals to cement his status as Europe’s most prolific striker. Haaland scored against Southampton on Saturday afternoon to move seven strikes clear of Harry Kane - who also scored at the weekend - in the Golden Boot race.

Astonishingly, the Norwegian is just eight goals behind last year’s joint winners Mohammed Salah and Son Heung-min… with 29 games left to play. The ruthless hat-trick against Manchester United in the derby was his third this season, triggering inevitable questions about how many he can rack up by May.

For context, Michael Owen is second on the list, with 48 games, when it comes to the fastest player to score three Premier League hat-tricks. The fear among rival fans is that the top flight could be done and dusted by January should Haaland continue to demolish all in front of him.

In an act of desperation, petitions have been set up to try and derail the Man City talisman. One tongue-in-cheek call to action has appeared following Manchester United's 6-3 derby defeat.

An account named Ten Hag’s Reds has likened Haaland to a “robot” - insisting it is “simply not fair” for him to “carry on in our country”. “It's just simply not fair,” the request read. “We can make a change. Now is the time for us people to act. This robot should not be allowed to carry on in our country.” The petition has been signed by 646 people so far.

Another appeal, set up by Shane Lee on Change.org, has gone even further after it quipped that Haaland’s goalscoring prowess is endangering “national security” and has called for him to be removed from the UK.

The description of the petition, which has so far been signed by 260 people, reads: “Erling Haaland is a serious problem. He shows up out of the blue, and consistently ruins the weekends of the hardworking people of this great nation. This issue must be dealt with in order to protect the mental health of millions in our society.

“To put it shortly, if things don't change, it will only get worse. This guy is nine league goals away from equalling last season's golden boot winner. Now is the time to take action. It was all fun and games at the start, but it is now becoming a matter of national security, as he is inflicting severe mental health issues on us all, even if you don't know it yet.”