Erling Haaland reaction to Man City verdict revealed as Norway team-mates break silence | OneFootball

Prolific striker has yet to speak out on bombshell decision

Norway defender Kristoffer Ajer says football’s “biggest star” Erling Haaland has not changed at all after Manchester City were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules.

Haaland will play for the first time on Thursday since an independent commission delivered a damning verdict on City, saying the club had artificially inflated their income by £900million over a nine-year period.

Wales will host Norway in a Nations League fixture at Cardiff City Stadium, when Haaland will be in the spotlight and seeking to add to his extraordinary international record of 65 goals in 57 games.

“Ever since I met him he brings lot of energy and joy to the group,” said Brentford centre-back Ajer when asked about Haaland’s demeanour in the Norway camp since City’s guilty verdict was announced on Tuesday.

Stoic: Erling Haaland

“That’s the biggest compliment I always give, he hasn’t changed a bit from the moment I met him, even though he’s the biggest star on the planet right now.

Reports of City’s guilty verdict first surfaced in the media on Friday. The club maintains its innocence and is expected to lodge an appeal before Friday’s deadline.

Haaland scored against Portugal in a 2-1 defeat two days later, after earlier scoring two versus Denmark to extend his record as the Nations League’s all-time top scorer to 22.

Ajer said: “He’s the best player in the world if you ask me, so hopefully he scores a few tomorrow as well.

“I have to admit that honestly I’ve read very little into it (the City situation). We don’t talk about it much here.

“Obviously, it was a statement released yesterday, so it’s quite fresh and new.

“But we’re just footballers, we don’t know all the ins and outs and all the stuff that’s being talked about in the media.

“So we haven’t really had any fantastic discussions about it where we know a lot.”