Erling Braut Haaland has earned more rave reviews following his latest goalscoring exploits for RB Salzburg in the Champions League.
Leeds-born Haaland, 19, the son of former Leeds and Manchester City midfielder Alf-Inge Haaland, fired a first-half hat-trick on his Champions League debut in Salzburg’s 6-2 win against Genk.
It was the Norwegian’s third hat-trick in eight games for Austrian side Salzburg this season, during which he has scored 14 goals.
Haaland first caught the wider footballing world’s attention when he scored nine goals for Norway in May when they thrashed Honduras 12-0 at the Under-20 World Cup in Poland.
Salzburg’s American boss Jesse Marsch described Haaland as “incredible” after his side’s victory over Genk.
Marsch told Sky Sport Austria: “Rene Aufhauser (Salzburg assistant manager) said it’s impossible to defend him (Haaland) and maybe that’s right.
“He’s a boy with great energy, always with a smile on his lips and everyone likes him. For a 19-year-old, that’s incredible. He always thinks about what the next step is.”
Haaland is the third-youngest player to score a Champions League hat-trick. Raul and Wayne Rooney both achieved the feat when they were 18, for Real Madrid in 1995 and Manchester United in 2004 respectively.
Haaland, no longer eligible for England, grew up supporting Leeds, where his father spent three years as a player until 2000.
In an interview with Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten in 2017, Haaland said: “The dream is to win the Premier League with Leeds.
“In addition, the goal is to become a better player than my dad was. I hope to get more caps than he did.”
