Erling Haaland: The Leeds-born Striker Who Rewrote the Premier League Record Book
Erling Haaland arrived in England in 2022 with a reputation built in Norway, Austria and Germany, and needed only one season to break the Premier League's scoring record. Few players have changed the way a title race is priced so quickly, and Manchester City's striker is usually the first name considered in goalscorer bets on the big games. His story begins not in Norway but in West Yorkshire.
Born in Leeds
Haaland was born in Leeds on 21 July 2000. His father, Alf-Inge Haaland, was playing for Leeds United at the time, having previously been at Nottingham Forest, and later moved on to Manchester City. The family returned to Norway when Erling was three, settling in Bryne, the small town south of Stavanger where his father had grown up.A Leeds United Supporter as a Boy
Despite growing up in Norway, Haaland kept a connection with his birthplace. He has spoken openly about supporting Leeds United as a child, following the club his father played for, and photographs of him as a boy in a Leeds shirt have circulated widely. When he chose Manchester City in 2022, he was following his father's path once again, as Alf-Inge had also played for the club.Bryne and Molde
Haaland made his senior debut for Bryne in 2016, aged 15, in Norway's second tier. In 2017 he joined Molde, then managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjær, and his breakthrough came in 2018 when he scored four goals in 21 minutes against Brann. Scouts across Europe took note, and he left for Austria at the start of 2019.Salzburg and the World Stage
At RB Salzburg, Haaland's goals came at a pace that drew attention well beyond Austria. He scored a hat-trick on his Champions League debut against Genk in September 2019, and went on to score in each of his first five matches in the competition. That May, he had scored nine goals in a single game for Norway against Honduras at the Under-20 World Cup, a tournament record.
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund signed him in January 2020, and he scored a hat-trick on his debut after coming off the bench against Augsburg. Over two and a half seasons he scored 86 goals in 89 matches for the club and won the DFB-Pokal in 2021. By then most of Europe's leading clubs were interested, and a release clause in his contract made a summer move almost certain.Manchester City and the Record Books
Haaland joined City in the summer of 2022 and scored 36 Premier League goals in his first season, breaking the record for a 38-game season held jointly by Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer. He scored 52 goals in all competitions as City won the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League, the first treble in the club's history. He won the Golden Boot again in 2023-24 with 27 goals, and in January 2025 signed a contract running until 2034.
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