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Borussia Dortmund's new recruit Erling Haaland has taken the footballing world by storm due to his goal-scoring record and consistency in front of the goal in the past few months, and the striker is already a revelation at just 19 years of age.
The Norwegian rose to fame in this season's Champions League group stages with his previous club Red Bull Salzburg where he scored 8 goals in 4 starts for the Austrian club. Not just the European competition, Haaland was giving the Austrian Bundesliga defenders a run for their money too as he had already accumulated 16 goals this season in the domestic top flight.
Haaland was quick to adapt and make his name in the Dortmund camp as he scored a hat-trick on his debut in just 23 minutes, a statistic which seems unbelievable on paper. The forward also hit two goals in the next game when he was brought on in the second half, taking his tally to 5 goals in 56 minutes for the German club.
The 19-year-old's next test was the round of 16 first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, a test he cleared with flying colours as he scored two goals in 8 minutes in the second half to sink the French champions.
Unfortunately, the Parisian club knocked out Dortmund from the Champions League in the second leg a few days ago, which ended Haaland's scoring spree in the Europe's biggest competition.
Today we take a look at the top 5 things you probably didn't know about Erling Haaland, the young striker who is tipped to become the next big thing in football.
#5 Haaland once scored 9 goals in a single game
The goal-scoring machine for Dortmund was part of Norway's squad for the Under-20 World Cup, held in Poland last year.
Apparently, Haaland scored nine goals as his team thrashed Honduras 12-0 and broke the record for most number of goals scored in a single Under-20 World Cup game, previously held by Brazil striker Adailton who scored six past Korea in a 10-3 win in 1997. This was also Norway's biggest ever victory in football.
It won't be an exaggeration to say that the Norwegian has continued his goal-scoring form since then, having scored at almost every occasion, whether for club or country.
#4 Follows Cristiano Ronaldo's diet to become like him one day
Haaland considers Cristiano Ronaldo as his role model when it comes to his training and diet. The striker follows the Portuguese starlet's diet plan as he is amazed by how the latter is so fit and at the top of his game even at the age of 35.
Alfe-Inge Haaland, the father of the young prodigy who has also played International football for Norway and domestic football in England, revealed that the 19-year-old got the inspiration for Cristiano's diet after a brief chat with Ronaldo's United team-mate Patrice Evra.
The French defender had narrated an incident to the young player about how he and Cristiano went out to have lunch together, and the Juventus forward ended up just eating fish and nothing else as a part of his strict calorie intake routine.
Certainly, the youth sensation is inspired by the right role models in world football.
#3 Aspires to win the Premier League with Leeds United someday
Haaland's father Alfe-Inge is a retired professional footballer having 34 caps for Norway and appearances for English clubs like Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Manchester City.
Having being born in Leeds, the ex-Salzburg striker is also a huge fan of the club and apparently dreams of winning the Premiership someday with the current Championship club.
It is most certainly the right time when the striker has rose to lime-light as Leeds United are on their way to getting promoted to the Premier League next season, currently sitting atop the Championship table with 71 points from 37 games played.
If Leeds can maintain their run in the Premiership for another decade or so, we can expect to see Haaland in the white Leeds jersey someday in the English top flight.
#2 His favourite song is the Champions League anthem
The Bundesliga's new starlet is apparently a huge fan of playing in the Champions League, and his favourite song to listen to is none other than the Champions League anthem. Not only this, he is also rumoured to have his alarm tone set to the official anthem on his phone, as it motivates him to train harder and become a better footballer everyday.
Most certainly Haaland's admiration and hard-work has paid off this season, as he was one of the most feared strikers in the European competition until Dortmund were knocked out a couple of days ago.
He has 10 goals in 5 games in the UEFA Champions League this season.
#1 Haaland is eligible to play for England
As the Under-20 International was born in Leeds, England during his father's stint with the Peacocks, he is theoretically eligible to play for the Three Lions.
But the attacker was always clear about his priorities and his heart with the Norwegian team, which resulted in him choosing the land of the midnight sun over his country of birth. He has represented Norway at various age groups.
Despite the Norwegians being eliminated in the group stage of the Under-20 World Cup last year in Poland, Haaland won the Golden Boot due to his record-breaking 9 goals against Honduras.
Having been compared to other young players like Kylian Mbappe and his own Dortmund team-mate Jadon Sancho, the striker has proved in recent weeks that he can also compete with the other wonder-kids and is one of the stars to look out for, in the future.
