Erling Haaland is on-form for Manchester City [image: adobe stock]

Erling Haaland has been breaking records since he was young but his latest achievement is astonishing even by his remarkable standards – reaching 100 goals in Premier League in record time.

His goal against Fulham on Tuesday saw him reach the landmark number faster than any player in the competition’s history, beating a record set by Alan Shearer.

But there is more to Haaland than his lethal finishing. From world records to viral music, there are numerous alternative realities where this goal-scoring machine is leading a totally different life.

Sprinter

Haaland could have had a career in sprinting after a display in 2020 where he nearly broke the 60-metre sprint world record. During a match against Paris Saint-Germain, he ran box-to-box at a lightning pace, 60 metres in 6.64 seconds, just 0.3 seconds off the world record time set by Christian Coleman in 2018.

The run, which came while Haaland was playing for Borussia Dortmund, would have been quick enough to qualify for the World Athletics Championship. Despite this incredible pace, his teammate Jadon Sancho didn’t pass to him and the attack didn’t even result in a shot on target.

An England player

Haaland could have been playing of the three lions [image: adobe stock]
Haaland was actually born in Leeds when his father, Alfie Haaland, was playing for Leeds United. It made the striker eligible to represent England at international level but his family moved back to Norway in 2003 and he decided to play for the Norwegian national team.

It paid off as he has become Norway’s highest goal scorer with 55 goals in 48 appearances. and led them to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, their first appearance at the tournament since 1998.

This alternate career would have still seen him playing football but battling Harry Kane for goal-scoring records. As a player cannot switch their international allegiance after they’ve been capped, we will never see Haaland in an England shirt and it will always be just a fascinating what-if scenario.

Long jumper

Haaland was breaking records from an early age, and his first came when he was just five when he broke the world record for longest standing long jump for his age, jumping 1.63 metres, a record he still holds.

It’s not surprising he was athletically adept from such a young age as both his parents were involved with sports. Besides dad Alfie, who played for Nottingham Forest and Manchester City as well as Leeds, his mum, Gry Marita Braut, was a renowned Norwegian heptathlete champion in the 1990s.

Handball player

During his childhood, Haaland tried his hand at a number of sports including athletics, handball and cross-country. The Norwegian handball manager even wanted him to play the sport before he chose football. Versatility is a key strength of Haaland’s playing style and this likely stemmed from his multi-sport childhood.

Musician

It is not just sport that Haaland has put his hand to, in 2016 he teamed up with his Norway U-17s teammates Erik Botheim and Erik Tobias Sandberg to release the single Kygo jo. They released the video on YouTube under the name Flow Kingz feat Lyng and it now has more than 14 million views.

The song has a distinctively Scandinavian backing track and acknowledges the influence of Kygo, a famous Norwegian producer, in its title. With lyrics referencing Caesar salads, mobile phone contracts and mountain pastures, the trio probably made the right decision pursuing football.