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Erling Haaland claims he would 'trust Mario Balotelli with his life' in 2022's weirdest crossover

Home> Football

Published 13:29 15 Oct 2022 GMT+1

Erling Haaland claims he would 'trust Mario Balotelli with his life' in 2022's weirdest crossover

Haaland was speaking ahead of Sunday's game with Liverpool.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has revealed his childhood heroes are Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli - even claiming he'd trust the latter 'with his life'.

The 22-year-old has taken English football by storm this season, scoring 20 goals in all competitions since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

Haaland will face the toughest test of his City career so far when he comes up against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

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Ahead of that huge game, he sat down with Sky Sports to go in-depth about his upbringing and personal life in a rare interview.

Gary Neville helped the Norway international open up about all aspects of his life off the pitch, including who he looked up to as a boy.

Haaland's father, Alf-Inge, is a former football and the easy pick. He went on to name Ibrahimovic and, surprisingly, Balotelli.

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"Except my father maybe Zlatan Ibrahimovic," Haaland declared before being shown footage of himself wearing the number 45 shirt.

That was the shirt number Balotelli wore throughout his career but most famously at City between 2010 and 2013.

Haaland was asked who he'd trust to take a penalty with his life on the line. You know where this is going.

The former Borussia Dortmund man said himself before throwing Balotelli's name into the hat.

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Balotelli has a perfect record from the spot, scoring all 19 he's taken in his career.

Haaland added: "I’d probably have to either say myself as I trust myself a lot. If not there is some good ones, I think I have to say maybe Mario Balotelli because he was maybe the best I’ve ever seen as a penalty-taker.

"You remember all the ones he did? Crazy. He was actually a really good one, so maybe me or him."

Haaland has scored against every team he's played against this term apart from Bournemouth.

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Haaland is only eight goals off the total that won last season's Golden Boot. (Image
Alamy)

He'll be hoping to keep that record up this weekend, against a Liverpool side who are 11th in the league after only two wins all campaign.

City have only won two games at Anfield in the last 19 years, while Virgil van Dijk hasn't lost a league game at home since joining Liverpool in 2018.

Who do you think will win this weekend, Manchester City or Liverpool? Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Topics: Erling Haaland, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mario Balotelli, Manchester City

Daniel Marland
Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

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@DanMarland_

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