Aymeric Laporte had a hilarious message for Erling Haaland.
The Manchester City centre-back, who has missed the start of the campaign due to injury, made his first appearance of the season during the thrashing of Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
Laporte replaced Nathan Ake midway through the second-half, as the Premier League Champions demolished rivals United at the Etihad Stadium.
In a stunning 6-3 victory, which brought the Reds' four game winning streak to an abrupt end, boyhood Blues Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both scored hat-tricks.
This is what dreams are made of! 🥰💙 pic.twitter.com/Q4XFeBOr1E
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) October 2, 2022
After Foden opened the scoring after just eight minutes, the pair would both go on to score first-half braces, as City took an emphatic 4-0 lead into half-time.
Haaland powered a header goalwards in the 34th minute, and scored his second three minutes later, latching onto Kevin De Bruyne's pinpoint cross.
In the second-half, Haaland and Foden both secured their hat-tricks, as City moved into a 6-1 lead.
United would score two further late consolation goals through Anthony Martial, but suffered a humiliating third straight loss to their local rivals.
Haaland's hat-trick in his first Manchester Derby was the Norwegian's third in the Premier League.
Despite playing just eight league matches, the 22 year-old has already scored 14 Premier League goals for the Sky Blues.
Haaland also netted hat-tricks against both Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium.
With the formidable forward taking home his third Premier League matchball, fellow teammate Aymeric Laporte had a hilarious message for the striker.
Writing on the matchball after Sunday's victory, the Spain defender hilariously wrote: "I have signed more balls for your hat-tricks than contracts."
Aymeric @Laporte's message on @ErlingHaaland's match ball: "I have signed more balls for your hat-tricks than contracts." [via @carrusel] https://t.co/f6Fj9dRsm2
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) October 2, 2022
Laporte had missed the start of the season with a knee injury, sustained during the backend of the last campaign.
The Spain defender returned to first-team training prior to last months international break, and made his first appearance of the season against United this weekend.
Due to ongoing injury problems at centre-back, City made a Deadline Day move for Manuel Akanji, a fellow Borussia Dortmund teammate of Haaland's.
The Swiss centre-back completed a £15 million move and has had a stellar start to life in the Premier League.
Akanji partnerd Nathan Ake in the Manchester Derby victory this weekend.
Both Haaland and Laporte will hope to feature at the Etihad Stadium again on Wednesday, when the Blues welcome FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League.
Featured Image Credit: PA Images / Alamy
Topics: Aymeric Laporte, Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Manchester United, Premier League
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