MANCHESTER UNITED transfer target Erling Haaland has revealed he sleeps with his five hat-trick balls – and jokes they are his girlfriends.
The in-form RB Salzburg striker, also being chased by Real Madrid and Liverpool, spoke about his astonishing season in an interview during the build-up to Norway’s Euro 2020 qualifiers this week.
Haaland, 19, has already scored 22 goals in 19 games this term.
It has prompted the Austrians to put an 85million price tag on a player they picked up for next to nothing from Norwegian club Molde at the start of this year.
And Haaland, who hit a hat-trick against Genk in the same Champions League group that contains Liverpool, revealed he keeps all his match balls close at hand.
In an interview with Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, he said: “I sleep with the five balls that I have for each hat-trick I scored.
“I lie in bed and I feel good with them.
“I look at them every day. They are my girlfriends.”
But he kept schtum on any talk of a move to United, where he would link up with his former Molde manager and compatriot Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
He said: “You know my answer. No comment.”
When asked what it would be like to play with Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus, he said: “No comment.”
Meanwhile, Norway boss Lars Lagerback believes Haaland is similar to a Swedish superstar.
He said: “I compare him to Henrik Larsson, who is one of the best I’ve seen without a ball.”
