Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NORSE GOD ON
The Premier League’s latest big signing is a 6ft 4in “Viking” who broke a long jump world record when he was just five years old. Erling Braut Haaland – a Norwegian who was born in Leeds – is just 21 but has talent so big that Manchester City have agreed to buy him for £51million and pay him £385,000 a week.
Some of his millions of social media followers in Germany nicknamed him The Terminator because of his goalscoring feats. And despite the healthy diet expected of footballers, he admits that he loves kebabs and pizza.
Young Erling leapt 1.63m in January 2006 to claim his place in history for the longest standing long jump.
Now he leaves the opposition standing. In a 2020 game for his current club Borussia Dortmund, a TV station clocked him sprinting 60m in just 6.64 seconds, a time which would have put him in the World Championship athletics indoor final in 2018.
It is a staggering feat, as the world record by US athlete Christian Coleman stands at 6.34 seconds. But his athletic prowess is in the genes; Haaland comes from a great sporting family.
His mum Gry Marita used to be national champion in heptathlon in Norway. His dad Alf-inge Haaland played for Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Man City, where he had a fierce rivalry with Man United’s Roy Keane. That led to a blood-curdling knee-high tackle on Alf-inge’s right knee which left him badly injured in 2001.
Erling’s maternal cousins Albert Tjaland and Jonatan Braut Brunes play for Norwegian clubs Bryne and IK Start.
And Jonatan’s sister Emma Braut Brunes plays as a defender for Norwegian side Klepp’s women’s team.
Erling returned to his native Norway after spending the first three years of his life in Leeds, West Yorks, where he was born while his dad, now his agent, was playing for Leeds United.
He once said that his ambition was to “play in the Premier League for Leeds” like his father. How the Elland Road faithful would love to see that now.
He could have played for England and posed happily in an England top alongside his big brother
Astor and sister Gabi.
Erling’s wages at City will put him on a par with their highest earner – and team chiefs believe the transfer fee will prove to be a bargain after he scored 61 goals in 66 games for German side Dortmund.
He might be partial to fast food but his personal chef makes sure he eats a healthy diet and gets through a whopping 4,000 calories a day.
Though he tries to adhere to the strict diet regime followed by Man United legend Cristiano Ronaldo, he revealed recently that kebab was his favourite food, though only a rare treat.
“I really like kebab. I love it,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I eat it all the time. I eat it a couple of times a year in my hometown. I almost never eat it, but it’s still my favourite food.”
His countryman Josh
HISTORY
King has joked about his eating habits. “He’s just a freak,” he told footballer Ben Foster’s Youtube channel. “I’ve never ever seen anyone eat as much as he does. He’s bulking up. “Yeah, he’s shredded but I don’t know, he just eats like a bear. He’s such a nice guy.”
That view was confirmed by one of Haaland’s first coaches, who spotted his talent at just four years old back in Norway.
He is adamant that