Erling Haaland does not seem to have lost any of his goal-scoring swagger during the World Cup break.
Unfortunately for him, the Manchester City striker was not able to participate in the competition as Norway failed to qualify for it.
That meant the Norwegian star had a good month’s rest, which delighted his coach, Pep Guardiola.
Haaland has faced his own share of injury frustrations over the last year or so, but being able to take a back seat from football and work on his fitness more than anything else has helped him return to action with 100% fitness levels.
Haaland proved that he has not lost any steam in his side’s 3-2 win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup 4th Round clash, in which he scored the opening goal of the game and was an absolute thorn at the side of the Merseyside club’s defenders.
Something which will be music to the ears of every Man City fan is the fact that the Norwegian forward looks ready to start winning games for them again.
But it also looks like Haaland wants to debut a new look in time for his side’s return to Premier League action when they face Leeds United – which is ironically the team his father used to play for and a team he used to support as a kid.
Just before the game, Haaland has also changed up his hairstyle to visit Elland Road with a brand new look.
The Norwegian forward was pictured in City’s training to have braided his hair and turned them into two braided ponytails, which means he might’ve ditched his back curled down hair – which he held back using a headband.
He seems to have embraced his ‘Viking’ heritage by paying a tribute to his ancestor by using the popular hairstyle that the Nordic tribes used to do.
His new braids are actually known as the Nordic Braid, which were normally used by Norse Women to signify their unmarried status in society.
Some of the Viking Men used this kind of hairstyle to make it easier for them to remain more comfortable during a battle.
In modern society, the Nordic Braid is associated with being the ‘Warrior hairstyle’ and has probably been used by the Norwegian forward to intimidate the opposition players before the upcoming games.
Haaland has definitely excited the fans with his new look, with some believing that he might on the cusp of taking his game to a whole new level and scoring a lot more goals for them in 2023.
Some even link his new braids to the ‘noodle hair Ronaldo’ – the Cristiano Ronaldo noodle hairstyle which he debuted at Real Madrid and scored a lot of goals for them.
The City striker is unlikely to take it easy on Leeds or any other club that his side faces for the second half of the season. He’s already scored 24 goals across all competitions this season and seems to be vying for the 50-goal mark.
Now with his new hairstyle, the 21-year-old forward can get make the opponents sweat even before the game starts – before he proceeds to destroy them with his ruthless goal-scoring nature during the 90 minutes.
