Erling Haaland has shown no sign of being affected by the verdict against Manchester City, according to the Norway camp that has been with him since the news broke.
The striker is set to play for the first time since the Premier League confirmed City’s financial rule breaches when Norway face Wales in Cardiff on Thursday (19:45 BST). He was kept away from the media before and after Norway’s Nations League defeat by Portugal on Sunday, after reports of City’s guilty verdict first emerged, and he was again not put in front of the cameras as the World Cup quarter-finalists arrived in Wales. City continue to deny any wrongdoing.
His Norway team-mate, Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer, offered the clearest insight into how Haaland has handled the headlines. “He’s been exactly the way he’s always the same with the national team,” Ajer said. “He’s truly focused on the upcoming games. I think he’s trying to do the same as everyone else, wait and see what the outcome is – but right now the main focus is Wales tomorrow night. That’s clearly been his way of doing it.”
Asked whether he had seen a change in Haaland since the news broke, Ajer said: “No not at all. Ever since I met him brings lot of energy and joy to the group. The biggest compliment I always give is that he hasn’t changed a bit from the moment I met him even though he’s the biggest star on the planet right now. He’s been exactly the same the last few days as well which is not a surprise for me.”
Norway manager Stale Solbakken attempted to deflect questions on the subject, saying tersely that Haaland was “very good” and “scoring goals”, although he did admit the forward missed one chance against Portugal he would normally have finished. Asked whether he had felt the need to speak to him about the extra focus, Solbakken replied: “What we speak about is between him and me.”
Haaland, who trained as normal at Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday evening, signed for City in 2022 – four years after the last of the nine seasons in which the club were found to have broken financial rules – and is regarded as their biggest star.
On the pitch, he scored in the 2-1 defeat by Portugal in Oslo and twice in the 3-2 win over Denmark, taking him to 65 goals in 57 appearances for his country. He could link up with Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard, the Norway captain, who trained in Cardiff following the challenge from former Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva that was the subject of criticism on Friday night.
Solbakken also praised Bellamy’s impact on Wales, despite their winless run of six matches, saying he has “modern ideas” and suggesting the side are simply low in confidence after missing out on a place at the summer’s World Cup following a play-off defeat on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ajer added that he could see similarities between the two teams: “It’s a similar population and the same work ethic from both countries. So obviously we followed that journey Wales were on (in 2016) and obviously it was nice that it was our turn, so we’re expecting a very, very tough game tomorrow with two equal sides that are playing the same kind of football.”