‘I’m more hungry and more ready than ever’

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has revealed the pain of missing out on the World Cup motivated him to come back even better.

The 22-year-old has stated watching other players score and win in Qatar ‘irritated’ him after Norway failed to qualify for the global tournament.

And after making it his mission to hit the ground running after the international break, Haaland has continued his devastating form.

He scored in last week’s Carabao Cup win against Liverpool, and followed that up with a double in the 3-1 top-flight victory on his return to Leeds.

In doing so, he has created Premier League history by reaching 20 goals in record time after achieving the feat in just 14 games.

Speaking to Amazon Prime after the match, Haaland has now set his sights on hunting down league leaders Arsenal, while insisting he has to train harder having missed a few chances.

Commenting on his goal target for the season, he said: “I have a target but I cannot say it. I just said it inside, I could have scored five, it’s the truth.

“But we win that’s the most important thing, you see Arsenal at the top now, we have to hunt them, so we win and I’m really happy.

“I’m more hungry and more ready than ever.”

Haaland put in a man of the match display on his return to Leeds, where he was born with his dad Alf-Inge a key player for the Whites between 1997-2000.

Pressed on what it was like to play at Elland Road, he remarked: “My father and mother were on the tribune today. It’s special.

“I’m happy – it’s a special moment in my career. When I was young, I had a jersey of Eirik Bakke in my room and also a City jersey of my father.

“It’s really weird – it was a crazy fantasy of mine to score at Elland Road for City.”