Erling Haaland's youth coach has exclusively told KickOff about his experience managing the Manchester City star before his sensational rise to the top.
The 22-year-old has continued to grab headlines in his record-breaking debut season at the Etihad Stadium.
Read: Haaland 'makes shock decision' on Man City future
Having already reached 50 goals across all competitions in 2022/23, the striker has been tipped to be one of the frontrunners for this year's edition of football's most prestigious individual prize, the Ballon d'Or award.
The Norwegian is now almost certain to surpass Alan Shearer and Andy Cole's long-standing record of 34 goals in a single Premier League season after he equalled the milestone during his side's 2-1 win over Fulham this past weekend, which also saw his side leap-frog Arsenal at the top of the league standings.
With the centre-forward having been hailed as a "machine" by his current boss Pep Guardiola, his coach at boyhood club Bryne FK has admitted he did not foresee the marksman reaching the heights he has so far his in young career.
Alf Ingve Berntsen, who coached Haaland for nine years in Norway, told KickOff: "Erling was always great from day one. So, we knew something special was in the making but we didn't think he would become the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League at age 20 [referring to Haaland's 2020/21 UCL Golden Boot win]."
Earlier this season, the 2020 Golden Boy winner came in for some criticism for a perceived lack of involvement in build-up play, with some wondering if Guardiola's system at City was suitable for a traditional No. 9.
However, according to Berntsen, the 1.95m goal-poacher never exhibited any weaknesses to his game despite not scoring a single goal during his 16 matches for the Bryne first team after he was promoted to the senior side just three months before turning 16 years old.
"He smiled a lot, trained a lot, and scored a lot," he added.
"In a big group of 40 players, he didn't struggle in some specific ways.
"He was good at all parts of football and didn't have big weakness in any part of his game.
"In addition, he's a good guy, nice, humble, and funny.
"He's a normal 22-year-old boy from Bryne, who is abnormally good at kicking the ball".
With many rising stars often tipped to be the next so-called superstar, Berntsen also revealed that Haaland did not receive any such comparisons during his blistering rise to stardom in Norway.
Meanwhile, some of his City teammates have been left astonished by his performances this season, which includes six hat-tricks.
Midfielder Bernardo Silva recently tipped him to win the Ballon d'Or this year, while fullback Kyle Walker has confessed that he did not expect Haaland to have such an impact upon his arrival at the Etihad in July 2022.
"I could see his quality when we played against him in the Champions League. But did I feel he could hit the ground running and get the goals he's done? Of course not," the England defender said, according to Goal.
"To come to a new league and a new team, it's always going to be difficult. That shows the level of the player, the maturity of the young boy at 22. Long may it continue."
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