Ten Facts you should know about Man City new signing Haaland
Chased by avalanche of suitors from different top clubs Dortmund goal merchant Erling Haaland finally settled for EPL reigning champions Manchester City.
The Citizens confirmed on Tuesday that they have completed the signing of one of the finest young forwards in world football, Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.
They placed £51 million ($63m) on the table to make it happen sealing a five year deal.
Here are Ten things you need to know about this goal merchant who some say will turn into another Sergio Aguero at the Ethihad.
*Erling Haaland hails from a sporting family. Other than his father Alfie who played in the Premier League, his mother Gry Marita Braut was a national heptathlon champion.
*Haaland’s maternal cousins Albert Tjaland and Jonatan Braut Brunes play for Norwegian clubs Bryne and IK Start respectively. Jonatan’s sister Emma Braut Brunes plays as a defender for Norwegian side Klepp’s women’s team.
*He was eligible to play for England national team, having been born on July 21, 2001, in Leeds while his father Alfie Haaland was playing for Leeds United. As he was born in England, the forward was eligible to represent the English national team. Fortunately for Norway, he opted to play for his native country.
*Haaland was nicknamed, ‘The Man-Child’ by his teammates during his younger days due to his enormous size since childhood. His present height is 194 metres (6 feet 4 inches).
*He leapt 1.63 metres in standing long jump when he was just five years old. According to International Age Records, it is a world record for a five-year-old which still stands.
*Only teenager to score in his first Champions League matches
Till date, only three players have scored in each of their first five appearances in the Champions League. Alessandro Del Piero, Diego Costa and Erling Haaland are the players who have achieved that feat and the Norwegian is the youngest player to do so. Haaland scored eight goals for Red Bull Salzburg in their first five group stage matches during the 2019/20 season.
*He considers Zlatan Ibrahimovic as an idol while growing up. In an interview in the past with redbullsalzburg.at, the player mentioned, “I had a lot of role models and I have seen many good players, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the biggest one for me. How he became so good, the [path] he took, the way he plays. Also, he is Scandinavian, so someone has to take over from him.”
*He had same agent as Ibrahimovic, Mino Raiola who recently passed away
*He follows the path of Cristiano Ronaldo in dietary restrictions
In an interview with ESPN FC in 2019, Alfie Haland had said, “He was told a story by Patrice Evra about a lunch he had with Ronaldo and Cristiano had fish, nothing else. Erling now tries to do the same things because Ronaldo is 34 and still at the top of the game, so it shows the value of doing the right things.”
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* He is tickled by the idea of winninh the UEFA Champions League and uses the official anthem of the tournament as his alarm tone and is definitely double effort to win it with Man City
In an interview with TV2, Haaland had said, “That’s my alarm tone. I wake up to it every day. It’s the last song I’d get tired of. I wake up to it. So I always get a perfect start to the day.”
* Never shy of scoring goals whenever the opportunity comes. In a 2019 U20 World Cup group stage match against Honduras, Erling Haaland scored nine goals which helped Norway win the tie 12-0. Haaland was the top goalscorer of the competition even though his team did not go past the group stage.