On Tuesday night, RB Salzburg took on Liverpool and as many as 40 scouts were at the game to watch the new upcoming talent that is Erling Haaland!
Six months ago if you asked someone who Erling Haaland was they would have had no idea. Fast forwards to now at the Leeds born Norwegian striker is near enough a household name. Son of Alf-Inge Håland, the ex Leeds, Notts Forest and Man City defender, Erling grew up in England before moving to Norway.
Now at just 19 years of age he is scaring defences in the Champions League and soon to be in the Europa League. His side, RB Salzburg, faced Liverpool on Tuesday night in the final game of the group stages. Salzburg needed a win to secure a place in the last 16 of the competition and a lot of pressure was already on the youngster to deliver.
Just to add to that was the small matter of 40 scouts in attendance. Most of which are believed to have been there to watch Haaland. He has had a great start to the season this year scoring 28 goals in just 22 games. On matchday one of this years group stage, he joined an elite group of players to score a hat-trick on their Champions League debut. His tally at the end of the group stages was eight goals, scoring in every game bar the last one against Liverpool.
Where to next?
Rumours are now flying around as to where he will go next. Now that Salzburg are out of the Champions League he may leave the club as soon as January.
He has been linked with Man United for the past couple of months who are in need of an out and out striker after selling Lukaku in the summer. Haaland has apparently expressed his interest in joining the club and is priced at 3/1 to do so on Paddy Power. But with so many clubs that are in the Champions League still interested, would he not go there?
On Wednesday it was reported that he went to Germany to visit some clubs there. He first went to RB Leipzig, who are partners with RB Salzburg. At 5/1 on Paddy Power, this could be a great bet. As the clubs are partnered, sorting a deal between the two shouldn’t be too difficult. Leipzig are still in the Champions League and if he went there, you would expect their odds of 45/1 to win the competition on Paddy Power to go down.
Currently, there aren’t any odds available on him joining Dortmund but this could soon change so keep a lookout. He would fit in at the club especially due to the fact Pablo Alcacer is out injured currently.
