Who is Erling Haaland? Biography of the Manchester City striker who has an impressive scoring record in the 2022/23 season.

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Who is Erling Haaland?

Erling Haaland is a Norwegian footballer. Erling Haaland was born in 2000 in Leeds, United Kingdom. Erling Haaland’s father is Alf-Inge Haaland, who once played for Manchester City. Erling Haaland’s mother is Gry Marita Braut, a former soldier and former athlete. Erling Haaland has two other siblings, Astor and Gabrielle.
Erling Haaland as a child
When Erling Haaland was born, Alf-Inge Haaland took on the role of coach at Leeds United. Seven years earlier, Haaland’s family moved to England to live. When he turned 30, Alf-Inge Haaland was forced to retire from his top career after a harsh foul by Roy Keane. After this incident, he returned home and worked in real estate.

Erling Haaland’s starting point

Alf-Inge Haaland encouraged his son to pursue his favorite sport. Ultimately, Erling chose football. The player born in 2000 tried out at Bryne and immediately impressed. Later, in an interview with GOAL, Bryne’s coach at that time, Alf Ingve Berntsen, said:

“I watched him when he was five years old. He was playing football at home with a group of older kids. After just two touches, Erling scored. From the first moment he touched the ball, he showed how good he was, even though he had never trained at a club. In 2005, Bryne built an indoor football pitch. You would always see Erling and about 20 other kids at the weekend, playing football for hours.”

Erling Haaland’s international football career started very early. In the 2015/16 season, Erling Haaland scored 18 goals in 14 matches for Bryne’s reserve team. This is the basis for him to be called up to the Norway U15 national team. However, in 2016, the turning point in Erling Haaland’s career appeared. That’s when Bryne fired Gaute Larsen and chose Alf Ingve Berntsen as interim coach.

Haaland shows his natural talent at Bryne
With a close relationship from before, Berntsen gave Erling Haaland the opportunity to play in the first team when he was only 15 years old. Although he did not perform too well, Erling Haaland was still invited by Hoffenheim for a trial. In the winter of 2017, Erling Haaland joined Molde – where he was coached by famous former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Make wise decisions in your career

Appearing in 50 matches for Molde, Erling Haaland scored 20 goals. And with a global scouting network, RB Salzburg does not miss the opportunity to recruit a striker born in Leeds. In January 2019, Erling Haaland transferred from Molde to RB Leipzig. From there, the most fearsome goal-scoring machine in Europe appeared.
During September and October 2019, Erling Haaland debuted in the Champions League and quickly made history. The Norwegian striker scored a hat-trick against Genk. After that, he continuously scored in the next 4 matches in the group stage, and became the first teenage player and the 5th player in history to score in 5 consecutive matches in the Champions League.

Even the top European teams cannot stop Erling Haaland. In fact, RB Salzburg under Jesse Marsch has played a dedicated style of play, not afraid to attack no matter who the opponent is. Before entering the winter break, Erling Haaland scored 28 goals in 22 matches in all competitions for RB Salzburg, including 5 hat-tricks.

All the players and coaches of RB Salzburg knew that Erling Haaland would eventually go to a more ambitious team. However, even when Real Madrid, PSG and Manchester United were interested, the star born in 2000 still chose Borussia Dortmund. At that time, Die Borussen only had to spend 22 million euros to convince RB Salzburg to let him go.

“He is young but has extremely good qualities, a player who is always focused on his career. Those are the personalities that fit Borussia Dortmund. Basically, players from Northern Europe are always dynamic and hungry for success. He can’t seem to suppress his ambition. This is truly a very good topic to discuss ,” said Borussia Dortmund General Director Hans-Joachim Watzke.

After only 67 Bundesliga appearances, Erling Haaland has 62 goals and 19 assists. Manchester City immediately stepped in to convince the Norwegian player. Taking advantage of the relationship with his father Alf-Inge Haaland and the abundant financial resources of the Arab owners, the Etihad team overcame all odds to get Erling Haaland’s signature for a fee of 60 million euros. This is a surprising amount when Erling Haaland was valued at 100 million euros in 2021.
Haaland joins Manchester City on a five-year contract
The striker position has become a hot topic in the blue half of Manchester. Sergio Aguero left, The Citizens could not find a worthy replacement when Gabriel Jesus was inconsistent. On the other hand, Manchester City could not convince Tottenham Hotspur to sell Harry Kane. Therefore, Erling Haaland wore the number 9 shirt at Manchester City, becoming the top target striker to replace Gabriel Jesus. 

Mino Raiola played a very important role in bringing Erling Haaland to Manchester City. Many newspapers confirmed that the late Italian representative received a huge bribe from The Citizens. Later, when Mino Raiola passed away from illness, Erling Haaland continued to accompany Mino Raiola’s company under the guidance of “female general” Rafaela Pimenta.

See more:  Following in Mbappe’s footsteps, Haaland officially signed a lucrative contract

Haaland “sweeps” in the Premier League

There have been conflicting opinions that Erling Haaland will find it difficult to shine at Manchester City. Because the Premier League is a much harsher environment than the Austrian National Championship or Bundesliga. However, right from the first matches, the former Borussia Dortmund star has dispelled doubts thanks to his explosive performance.

In just 28 appearances, Erling Haaland has scored 32 goals, equaling Mohamed Salah’s record. He only needs 3 more goals to break the record of 34 goals in a season held by two legends Andy Cole and Alan Shearer. In addition, up to now, Erling Haaland has 4 hat-tricks, only 1 less than Alan Shearer. In total, Erling Haaland has scored 47 goals at Man City. 

The Premier League still has 8 rounds left and it probably won’t be surprising if Erling Haaland continues to break the tournament’s scoring records. The reason why the Norwegian player maintains such impressive performance is thanks to his simple lifestyle, reasonable eating and scientific living.

Erling Haaland “learns” from Cristiano Ronaldo

Eating is the secret. Erling Haaland shared that he always maintains a strict diet to keep his physical condition at its best. It is known that the 22-year-old player consumes nearly 6,000 calories a day. He revealed that he likes to eat animal liver and heart because they are rich in vitamin B, iron, and phosphorus. Erling Haaland also only drinks water that has gone through a complex filtration system to remove toxic substances.
Haaland studies Ronaldo to have a healthy body
Mr. Alf-Inge Haaland once affirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo is the name that inspired Erling Haaland’s diet. Besides, the Norwegian star regularly practices yoga to maintain flexibility. That’s why Erling Haaland’s height and weight are 1m94 and 88kg. 

Erling Haaland doesn’t have many injuries. The last time Erling Haaland was injured was during the national team training session last March. At that time, Manchester City confirmed that the player born in 2000 had a sore groin. However, the pain was not too serious and he almost immediately regained his scoring form.

Secret love story with fellow WAGs

Being a top sought-after star and appearing all over the newspapers, not everyone knows that Erling Haaland has a girlfriend. The Manchester City striker is dating female colleague Isabel Haugseng Johansen. What’s interesting is that Isabel and Erling both grew up in Bryne and played for the local football team.

According to The Sun, Isabel had been to the stadium many times to cheer for Erling Haaland when he was playing for Borussia Dortmund. Before dating Erling Haaland, Isabel worked part-time at a fashion store. Since the time of publicizing the relationship, she suddenly deleted her social media accounts. Erling Haaland himself has not revealed much about his love life to the media.

The importance of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Pep Guardiola

The time working at Molde with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has greatly helped Erling Haaland. Norwegian newspapers affirmed that “Solsa” is the person who perfected Erling Haaland, teaching him the necessary skills to become a top striker. On the contrary, Erling Haaland also revealed that he regularly watches video tapes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Robin van Persie or Zlatan Ibrahimovic to learn lessons for himself.
The extremely good relationship between Haaland and Pep Guardiola
However, when joining Manchester City, Erling Haaland’s role has changed a bit. He is no longer just waiting in the box to score goals. Instead, Erling Haaland is increasingly active in moving around, connecting with the satellites around him. This is the reason why he and Kevin De Bruyne have an extremely tight bond on the field.

“I think I have to connect with the team when needed. I like Pep Guardiola, he is a master of small details. Before the match started, he would tell us what was going to happen the next day and it was uncannily accurate. I feel like I’m developing in many aspects, from moving with the ball to moving without the ball.”

Erling Haaland’s Title Hunt

Despite being a top scorer, Erling Haaland has not really achieved much success. Up to now, he has only won the Austrian championship twice with RB Salzburg, and also won the German Cup with Borussia Dortmund. However, entering the 2022/23 season, Erling Haaland is facing a great opportunity to win the Premier League with Manchester City.