Igor Thiago: Brentford sensation talks Premier League dream and challenging Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland will be up against his main rival for the Golden Boot - and his No1 fan.

Igor Thiago is just three goals behind Haaland in the race to be the Premier League ’s top scorer as the strikers go head-to-head at the Etihad. Thiago, 24, has been arguably the best fairytale of the whole season because his rise and goals have helped Brentford become surprise challengers for a Champions League place.

Brentford striker Thiago’s broad smile and laugh tells its own story. He is more comfortable using an interpreter to conduct interviews in Portuguese.

But when the question comes up about Haaland, his enthusiasm is so great that he could not stop himself from breaking into English. His admiration for Manchester City ’s superstar striker is obvious.

“I really like him, I really like him,” said Thiago with real emphasis. “I like him as a player because he has inspired me 100 per cent.

“I have learned so much from him during this season. His movement, his personality, I really like him as a person and as a person. I have watched him so much! I have seen clips of him in the changing room as well.

“He has huge quality and, for me, as a player he’s unbelievable. He does things on the pitch that I really, really like and I can get a lot from him.”

Haaland has 25 goals, Thiago has 22 and they are a long way ahead of the rest. He can barely believe they are both going for the Golden Boot. “I have dreamed about it. I believed it could happen. But now it is here - and it’s incredible,” said Thiago.

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“I’m really happy to be in this phase of my life, playing in the Premier League and competing against these kind of players.”

It is a dream for Thiago to be on the same stage. He was born in Brazil as one of four siblings and it was his mother Maria Diva who was his biggest inspiration. “She taught me if you give love, you get love back,” he said.

He started playing football on the street as an eight-year-old, had trials at different clubs before ending up at Cruzeiro’s academy but he left his home country for Ludogorets in Bulgaria just four years ago.

How on earth did a kid from Brazil end up in Bulgaria? “It’s a long story!” He says with his trademark smile and deep laugh.

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“Once I got there, the experience was incredible. When I arrived there and during my time there, that was when I realised how strong my desire was to succeed, improve and get better and better.

“It was in Bulgaria where people began to see me, that was important for me to build up my confidence which really helped me improve and got me to Belgium then to get here which is where I always wanted to be.

“I always wanted to get to the Premier League. This was my main objective, my goal because it would help me prove to myself that God was working with me and within me.

“At that moment I realised that regardless of what was happening, God would find a way of bringing me to where I wanted to be, which is here: the Premier League.”

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His faith is everything to him. Like so many in the current generation of players, he sees it as a guiding light. It guided him through tough times at Brentford because he suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out for the best part of a year after he first arrived in 2024.

He says fish and chips is his favourite English meal. His remarkable goalscoring run this season earned him his first call-up for Brazil in March. He is such a popular, happy person around the club and it is little wonder because playing in the Premier League was always his dream.

“The high quality, the teams, the players and the competition is the best and I wanted to be part of it,” said Thiago.

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“I think it’s a bit of everything - the level of the players, the tough competition and the physical side of the game. So many special and talented players are here.”

Thiago has also quickly developed a deep affection for Brentford. And the sense of always having the odds stacked against them - which they will be at the Etihad - clearly inspires the players.

Thiago added: “In this club, this team, it’s about being together, a sense of family, togetherness and this feeling is inspirational for all the players especially because no-one really believes Brentford can be this good. But the sense of togetherness is our greatest strength.

“This is what inspires us because it’s an opportunity to achieve something for a club which loves us all back so much.”