Rated: Erling Braut Haaland

CLUB RED BULL SALZBURG POSITION STRIKER

Value £60m Age 19 Foot Left Height 6ft 4in Nation Norway

THE STORY SO FAR: Born in Leeds, Haaland soon moved with his family to Norway, where he set out to emulate his father, Alf-inge, the former Leeds United and Manchester City midfielder.

Haaland Jr wanted to be a Premier League forward, but in his early teens he was no bigger or stronger than his peers. So he learned how to be smarter, timing his sprints and anticipating the ball. At 15 he made his debut for Bryne in Norway’s second division, before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer signed him for Molde in 2017. Suddenly, Haaland shot up – pumping iron and wolfing down meals, he quickly packed on kilos of muscle. “This year I’ve only grown around five centimetres,” he told some bemused journalists. “Well,” he added, “last year I grew around 11 or 12 centimetres.”

When Haaland scored 12 goals in 25 games in his second season, including four in the space of 20 minutes against hitherto-unbeaten table-toppers Brann, clubs started lining up to compete for his signature. Advised by Mino Raiola, his family rejected both Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen in favour of Salzburg, and the Red Bull-backed talent factory paid Molde £4.5m for the 18-year-old.

Moving in early 2019, Haaland spent six months adjusting to life in Austria. In May he hit nine goals in a single game, for Norway against Honduras at the Under-20 World Cup. “I should have scored 10,” he said. Since then, Haaland has not only become a club regular but he’s toyed with the Austrian league, also becoming the first player to score seven goals in his first four Champions League games. Before his Champions League debut, he listened to the competition’s theme song on his car stereo when driving.

Haaland is tall and strong, yet quick, too, thanks to his huge stride. His clever movement and cool penalties mean he is a natural predator. Although he takes inspiration from the fish-and-chicken diet of Cristiano Ronaldo, he shuns the press if he can. No wonder. In November he hit his fifth hat-trick of the season, then told a reporter he takes his five balls to bed with him, revealing, “I look at them every day. They’re my girlfriends.” NICKNAME: An inventive one, this: he’s tall and his name is Erling, so Salzburg supporters call him ‘Big Erl’.

THEY SAID: “He’s definitely going to become one of the best strikers in the world” – the view of Salzburg defender Maximilian Wober, after the youngster followed in the footsteps of Wayne Rooney (and Yakubu) by scoring three goals on his Champions League debut, despite still being a teenager. IDOLISED: Fellow Scandinavian striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “I had many role models,” Haaland has said, “but Zlatan was the greatest of them all.”

COMPARED TO: Many say Zlatan, but Haaland is more like the former Italy powerhouse Christian Vieri (left).

DID YOU KNOW? Three years ago, bored at a youth-team international camp, Haaland and two team-mates made a rap video, calling themselves ‘the Flow Kingz’. It’s on Youtube. Drake doesn’t have much to worry about. LINKED WITH: Juventus, Manchester United, Madrid, Barce… you get the idea. Thore Haugstad