Erling Haaland was “no different” in his behavior after the “fake contract” ruling against Manchester City, according to his Norwegian team-mate Christopher Agger.
Haaland will play for the first time on Thursday since the Premier League’s ruling on Manchester City, which said the club had artificially inflated the club’s revenues by £900m between 2009 and 2018.
Norway will face Wales in the Nations League on Thursday, where Haaland will be in the spotlight as his club faces a great deal of uncertainty following the Premier League’s statement.
“Since I met him he has brought a lot of energy and joy to the group,” Brentford centre-back Ajer said when asked about Haaland’s behavior in the Norway camp since City’s guilty verdict was announced on Tuesday.
“That’s the biggest compliment I always give him, he hasn’t changed a bit since the moment I met him, even though he’s the biggest star on the planet right now.
“He’s been exactly the same the last few days, which is no surprise to me,” he added.
Reports of Siti’s guilty verdict first appeared in the media on Friday.
Governance of the city “was not discussed” in the Norwegian camp
Haaland scored against Portugal in a 2-1 defeat two days later, after scoring twice earlier against Denmark, increasing his record as the all-time top scorer in the UEFA Nations League to 22 goals.
“He’s the best player in the world if you ask me, so hopefully he’ll score a few tomorrow too,” Agger said.
“I have to admit that I honestly have read very little about the situation in the city. We don’t talk about it much here.
“Obviously it was a statement that came out yesterday, so it’s completely new.
“But we are just footballers, we don’t know all the details and all the things that are talked about in the media.
“So we haven’t had any great discussions about it where we know so much.”
Man City ruling: Haaland’s future is uncertain
The future of Haaland and several of his team-mates could be in serious doubt following the ruling, with punishment yet to be determined.
Neither post is said to be off the table, with suggestions the club could be kicked out of the Premier League, which would certainly see the likes of Haaland leave the club.
No current players have commented on the ruling, although City issued a further statement reaffirming that they strongly deny the allegations and have compelling evidence to clear their names.
