On Wednesday, Haaland was asked by Dagbladet about one of his signature celebrations, in which he puts one finger to his ear and points the other in the air.

– Can you explain a bit about the background?

– No, I don’t really feel the need for that, Haaland began, as a smile spread across the mouth of national team coach Ståle Solbakken.

He then followed up with a slightly overbearing message, which is truer to him than most footballers:

– I like to celebrate and it’s a big part of my life.

Haaland clearly said it with a twinkle in his eyes. But he appeared to be smiling and looking confident, as he sat next to national team manager Ståle Solbakken at Ullevaal. And that may not come as much of a surprise after celebrating 14 goals in 10 games for Manchester City.

NRK football expert Carl-Erik Torp believes that this confidence and radiance actually increase the chances of participating in the Norwegian championship under the leadership of Ståle Solbakken:

– It’s really priceless. This is really extreme.

He showed how Haaland’s presence helped the whole team bounce back.

– Regardless of the match image, he can score goals. The players knew that if they kept a clean sheet, Erling would score, and then the game was won. It provides the zest needed to withstand great stress when one is getting tired. Money can’t buy something like this, Torp said.

City Friends get questions from all over

Great interest in Haaland was felt by many. City team-mate Jack Grealish says the jærbow is the favorite subject of most people he meets.

– Wherever I go, whether it’s from friends, family or people on the street, they always ask: “How is Haaland?”, says Jack Grealish at England’s Press conference before England’s international match against Italy on Friday night.

Grealish, who was Haaland’s team-mate at City, fully praised the sporting and non-sporting aspects of the Norwegian when people asked.

– I can’t speak enough about him, he’s amazing as a player and a person. He is a brilliant, brilliant person. Very humble considering what he has accomplished. “The attitude he has in terms of scoring goals, it’s absolutely incredible,” Grealish said.

When Haaland met the Norwegian press for the first time since May on Wednesday, much attention was paid to the striker’s views on alleged human rights abuses by City’s owners.

But he also answered questions about the sporting start he has had since moving to the Premier League and Manchester City.

– I didn’t expect to score 14 goals so far, I’ll be honest. “But the team that scored 100 goals last season, which I’m going to come on and score goals for, I’m very sure of that,” said Haaland.

The striker is set for two important international games with Norway, meetings that could ensure Norway win the group and promotion to the National League, which also provides an extra European Championship playoff chance.

– The ultimate dream

At Wednesday’s press conference, the 22-year-old was asked by Aftenposten how he weighed EC or WC gold with Norway against the Premier League trophy with City.

Then he had to pull a smiling face.

– I could easily win the WC with Norway, I have. It’s going to be a big “damn”, and I think all of you (journalists) will join the party after that, so to speak. But of course I want to win everything, be it league gold in the Premier League, the biggest league in the world and other trophies with City. To win the World Cup with Norway, or league gold with City… A World Cup with Norway would be a major dream, said Haaland.

Recently, a debate erupted at Fotball-Norge: Is Haaland already the greatest player of all time on a Norwegian passport, or does the honor still belong to LSK legend Tom Lund?

Haaland was asked to give his opinion:

– I was actually waiting for that question there, he started with a smile.

– No, the best Norwegian footballer of all time? There were probably some ruffians playing before I was born, so I haven’t seen much of them. I think it is their job in the media to find out who is the best Norwegian footballer of all time. If someone means me, then they should be allowed to mean it, if someone doesn’t mean me, they should be allowed to mean it too, he replied.

– Get used to my body

Manchester City physiotherapist Mario Pafundi has been brought into the support equipment around the Norwegian national football team.

It happened according to Haaland’s own idea, national team manager Ståle Solbakken revealed this week.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the Norwegian super forward made no secret of the fact that he was very satisfied that the proposal was heard by the NFF.

– Mario is the physio that Pep (Guardiola) brought when he came to City, and has taken good care of my body. “He’s a fantastic physio, it’s good that we can have him here,” Haaland said when asked by Nettavisen.

Norway meet Slovenia in Ljubljana in the Nations League on Saturday. Haaland was also in the newspapers there before an important international game.

According to NTB, Delo, one of the largest newspapers in Slovenia, told of a detailed training session in which Haaland received a lot of attention. Slovenian national team manager Matjaž Kek is said to have been coaching the team’s defense for several days, fearing what Jærbow could do.

– He wanted to put together a defense that would counter the “laser-guided missiles” that Haaland had at his feet. Who will stop sniper Haaland?, writes Delo.

– Both games are very important

If all goes to Norway’s favor, a group win is already guaranteed on Saturday. Norway then play Slovenia at 6pm, while Serbia take on Sweden in Belgrade at 20:45pm tonight.

If Serbia loses against Sweden in the next match, Norway is the group winner with points against Slovenia. If Serbia draws against Sweden, Norway will win the group with a win against Slovenia.

– Both games in this collection are very important. If we beat Slovenia in the first game, we will have to do well not to finish second, and it is all group winners and second best which means that we will most likely be seeded in group two in European Championship qualifiers. So there’s a lot to play for, says Ståle Solbakken.