Erling Haaland receives new TV-inspired nickname from Manchester City teammates

During his early days as a Manchester City player, Erling Haaland has lived up to all expectations.

With nine goals to his name in five Premier League games, the Norwegian international is the division’s leading goalscorer.

The 22-year-old has outscored Sergio Agüero’s record of eight goals in his first five league games, setting the new record for the best-ever start by any player in the same number of matches.

Lethal in front of goal 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OJlkkZjqgw

— Premier League (@premierleague) September 2, 2022

The former Borussia Dortmund striker has also become the fastest player to reach his second hat-trick in the Premier League in five games, breaking Demba Ba’s previous record of doing so in 21 fixtures.

As Erling Haaland looks like an instant fit in this Manchester City side on the pitch, the same seems to be the case off the pitch.

The former RB Salzburg frontman has often been seen alongside Jack Grealish on social media, with the latter posting a video of the former giving a speech in front of his teammates on his birthday via his Instagram story.

“HAALAND HAALAND!”

Jack Grealish provides a behind-the-scenes insight into @ErlingHaaland’s #ManCity welcome on Instagram! 😂💙 pic.twitter.com/Hga9THluY5

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) July 21, 2022

The pair even took a selfie together, with Grealish taking to Instagram to wish the in-form goalscorer on his 22nd birthday.

After the youngster bagged a hat-trick against Nottingham Forest in the Sky Blues’ latest 6-0 win, he was caught joking around with Phil Foden on the bench.

Our Starboys. 😂💙 @btsportfootball pic.twitter.com/sjyAmEwvIR

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 31, 2022

Kalvin Phillips has also revealed that him and Erling Haaland have got along well so far, with the latter’s birthplace being Leeds coming up as a top of conversation with the former, whose boyhood club was Leeds United.

With Haaland clearly being pally with his teammates at the Etihad Stadium, an inside joke in the dressing room has now come to light.

As per a report by Sun Sport, the club’s number nine has been nicknamed, ‘Daemon’ by his teammates, due to his uncanny resemblance with Daemon Targaryen from the hit TV show, ‘House of the Dragon’.

A club insider is also quoted as saying, “A few of the players are huge fans of House of Dragon and they have mentioned to Erling how much he looks like Daemon.

"He loves a joke and thinks it’s funny.

"Daemon is unpredictable and so is Erling, so their personalities fit as well.”

Ultimately, such a positive atmosphere behind-the-scenes is what will remain key in both Manchester City’s hunt for silverware this season, with Erling Haaland leading the charge.