Born in Leeds and now following in his dad Alfie’s footsteps as a superstar at Manchester City, Erling Haaland, the fastest player ever to reach 100 Premier League goals, has joined former Match of the Day host Gary Lineker and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer as the latest guest on their The Rest is Football podcast.
In the new episode, Haaland takes part in an exclusive, wide-ranging conversation offering rare insight into his record-breaking career.
Haaland reflects on hitting the 100-goal milestone earlier this month – insisting he only truly cares about chasing the all-time record: “Yeah, so obviously I knew for a time that the 100 goals was possible to break. I’ll be honest to say that. But again, I didn’t think too much about the record, which I don’t do. I’ve said it many times. I know one record. That’s the all-time one,” the goal machine reveals.
He also explains why the Premier League’s physicality is on another level compared with his former stomping ground in the German Bundesliga. He discusses his “old-school” mentality, why he chose Manchester City, Pep Guardiola’s direct pitch to him, and how the team’s increasingly direct style plays to his strengths.
Haaland is candid about frustration at missed chances, being subbed when chasing hat-tricks, and the pressure to deliver goals for both club and country – including his fear that he might never reach a World Cup, until Norway finally qualified this time around: “[It] is difficult to qualify and especially the more years that goes you’re more like what’s wrong kind of and thinking of the last time we were in the World Cup my father played it’s like kind of I wasn’t even born, you know,” he confides. “I lived throughout the whole, my whole life without us qualifying so that’s also kind of motivation…”
Away from the pitch, he opens up about his upbringing, his dad wanting him to be a golfer, his YouTube channel, his strict in-season lifestyle (“no beer, only milk”), and watching so much football that his partner is “sick of it.”
Watch or Listen To The Rest Is Football wherever you get your podcasts
