Erling Haaland has revealed he learned the art of movement in the penalty area by watching videos of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 23-year-old recently finished runner-up for the 2023 Ballon d’Or, a reward for his record-breaking first season at Manchester City in which he scored 52 goals in all competitions and won the historic The Premier League. FA Cup and Champions League treble.
Haaland shows no signs of letting up in the 2023/24 season, scoring 17 goals in 18 appearances in all competitions, and his relentless thirst for goals continues to attract the attention of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
It remains to be seen whether the Norwegian will choose to leave the Premier League at some stage, but there is no doubt that Haaland has the raw qualities to follow in Ronaldo’s footsteps at Real Madrid, with the ace striker admitting to admiring his admiration while learning his craft.
Ronaldo spent nearly 20 years playing at the highest level with Manchester United, Juventus and Madrid, his incredible longevity and talent allowing him to become men’s international football’s record goalscorer.
Haaland said the 38-year-old, who is also the greatest goalscorer in Champions League history, is an improvement over Lionel Messi. TV 2 Ronaldo impressed him, especially with his off-the-ball movement.
“I remember always looking at him Youtube “His movements in the penalty area: he used to make two or three moves before attacking the space he wanted to get into,” Haaland said. “In this case it was like a duel with the centre-backs. Perfect timing is important. And the post has to be good. If you don’t get good crosses, you won’t be able to score with your goal.” Head.
“How Cristiano moved and how he managed to develop his game. You remember him playing at Manchester United and his first year at Real Madrid, where he became a striker.
“For him, his management is unbelievable. And the way he scores goals is unbelievable. It’s little moves in the box and being able to deceive defenders.”
Ronaldo went on to score goals at Al Nasr Stadium and became the first leading figure in world football to take a risk in the cash-rich Saudi Professional League. The likes of Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez have since followed, with a number of other leading Premier League alumni – both players and coaches – choosing to head to the Middle East.
Haaland, meanwhile, has scored 207 goals in 216 games for club and country since joining Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in 2018.