ERLING HAALAND has been backed to break the Pep Guardiola striker curse and be an instant hit in the Premier League.

Classic centre-forwards and Pep have historically not mixed too well with the Spanish genius generally preferring false nines.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s failed move to Barcelona in 2009 is the ultimate example, where the world-class Swede just did not fit into Guardiola’s style of play.

Even legendary predators Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich and Sergio Aguero at Manchester City struggled at times to win over the master of tiki-taka.

It makes for an intriguing backdrop to the £51.4million capture of Haaland, seen by many as the best young striker on the planet.

Will he adapt to Pep’s free-flowing approach? Will Pep adapt his tactics to suit the Norwegian wonderkid?

Well, the overwhelming majority of the 1500 Premier League fans taking part in Sky Bet’s Fan Hope Survey seem to think it will work.

A whopping 75 per cent are sure of it, voting that the 21-year-old can translate his stunning form in the Bundesliga to England’s top flight.

Haaland even received 22 per cent of the vote to finish as the league’s top-scorer this year, just one per cent behind top-picked Mo Salah.

It is a mouthwatering prospect to think how Haaland will link up with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva.

That is, if reported Barcelona target Silva is still with the club by the end of the transfer window.

City fans have made it clear to Guardiola that they do not want the Portuguese playmaker to leave by voting him as the club’s most underrated player.

Guardiola has won four Premier League titles in five seasons but still has not won the Champions League with City.

Haaland, along with fellow new-boy Julian Alvarez, surely gives him best chance yet of finally landing the jug-eared trophy.

It was put to Premier League fans for the survey whether Guardiola would have underachieved at City if he does not make them Champions of Europe.

The results were as tight as the Brexit vote, with 52 per cent saying no and 48 per cent saying yes.

The narrow majority seem to appreciate how Pep has transformed our game with his pass-master style - yet a significant minority are still not wholly convinced.