Erling Haaland, a striker for Manchester City, said Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli were his inspirations growing up and that he trusted the latter “with his life.”
Since moving to English football from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, the 22-year-old has scored 20 goals across all competitions.
When Haaland plays Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, it will be the hardest test of his City career thus far.
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He sat down with Sky Sports before of that important game to do an in-depth interview on his upbringing and personal life.
The Norway international was able to open up to Gary Neville about many facets of his off-field experiences, including the role models he admired as a young lad.
Alf-Inge Haaland, the father, is a former football player and the obvious choice. He continued by mentioning Balotelli and, surprise, Ibrahimovic.
Before being shown a video of himself sporting the number 45 shirt, Haaland remarked, “Except my father maybe Zlatan Ibrahimovic.”
Balotelli used that shirt number throughout his career, but most notably at City from 2010 to 2013.
Whom would Haaland put his life on the line to take a penalty shot? You are aware of the outcome.
Before inserting Mario Balotelli’s name into the hat, the former Borussia Dortmund player said it himself.
With 19 attempts over the course of his career, Balotelli has converted all 19 of them into goals.
“I’d definitely have to say myself since I trust myself a lot,” continued Haaland. If not, there are several good ones, but I believe I have to pick Mario Balotelli as the best penalty taker I’ve ever seen.
“You recall every one he did? Crazy. Maybe me or him; he was actually a really excellent one.
With the exception of Bournemouth, Haaland has scored against every team he has faced this season.
Only eight goals separate Haaland from the total that earned the Golden Boot the previous season. (Alamy credit for image)
This weekend, he’ll be playing a Liverpool team that is currently 11th in the league with only two victories to their name.
In the past 19 years, City have only triumphed twice at Anfield, while Virgil van Dijk hasn’t suffered a home league defeat since joining Liverpool in 2018.