Pep Guardiola described Erling Haaland as one of the finest young strikers in the world as speculation grows that Manchester City will be chasing the Norwegian ace in the summer.

Those rumours are also now a sub-plot to the Champions League after the Blues drew Haaland’s club Borussia Dortmund in the two-legged quarter-final to be played next month.

Haaland is a major threat to City’s progress in the competition, after scoring an amazing 20 goals in his first 14 games in Europe’s elite tournament.

Guardiola said he has not had a chance to watch Dortmund much but had been impressed by Haaland: “The numbers speak for themselves – he’s one of the best strikers in the world at his age.

“I saw a few games, the highlights, the numbers are impressive. I know the quality of this player, everybody knows. In two weeks I could answer better because I didn’t see much. ”

City will face the German side in the week after the international break and are favourites to go through – and to win the competition.

Guardiola says he has not seen much of Edin Terzic’s team, but will study them before the sides meet next month.

But he did say: “Dortmund have experience – Witsel, Guereirro, Sancho, Reyna, they invest in good young players with wages and salaries for agents. They have a lot of quality.

“They beat Sevilla who are one of the best knockout teams. Dortmund is tough.

“After a second one, if we do good games we deserve to go through. No more secret than that. Leeds are not the best team to face between the two legs, we now have two weeks to analyse and see a few games, how they are.”

Guardiola was then asked whether Haaland – who was a City fan as a boy, after his father Alf Inge Haaland played for the Blues – is his type of player, with many feeling City have an advantage in taking the 20-year-old scoring sensation this summer.

But Guardiola was typically guarded: “He’s a player from Dortmund. I don’t like when people talk about our players. You understand I cannot answer this question.”