Haaland shows off new look braids and 'activates Viking mode' ahead of Leeds return

Haaland travels to the city where he was born and where his father Alf-Inge spent three years, as Man City restart their bid to retain their Premier League crown at Elland Road on Wednesday night.

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Leeds will be scared enough to welcome back a man in startling goalscoring form with 18 goals in 13 Premier League games, and his latest post serves as another warning.

Known not only for his world-class marksmanship on-field, Haaland has won plenty of fans worldwide with his charm off of it, and he isn't afraid to be different.

Posting his braided hair in training at the Etihad Campus, the Norwegian captioned his post 'Viking mode ACTIVATED' to show off his new look.

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And that may be keeping Leeds defenders up all night, with Haaland's current 'mode' already unstoppable, without him needing to activate another.

On top of the Viking braids and caption, there was also a triple-whammy for Jesse Marsch's men, with the photo highlighting Haaland's monstrous leg muscles.

City's photographer had managed to capture his bulging calves and hamstrings in full flow, with the former Leeds lad now one of football's most fearsome opponents.

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Haaland missed the World Cup as Norway failed to qualify, but he's clearly been working hard during his month off, while also enjoying some well-earned rest.

City's season resumed against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on December 22, with Haaland scoring in a 3-2 win.

The prolific Norwegian will be the centre of attention even more than usual on Wednesday as City resume their Premier League title defence at Leeds.

Haaland, who has scored 24 goals in just 19 appearances for City, was born in the West Yorkshire city in 2000 during his father Alf-Inge's spell as a defender with the Whites.

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He grew up supporting Leeds - as well as City, where Alf-Inge subsequently played - and the encounter is sure to be a poignant one for the Haaland family.

Adding to the sentiment, the game will also reunite Haaland with Jesse Marsch, the Leeds manager under whom he played earlier in his career at RB Salzburg.

Marsch has spoken of his "incredible relationship" with the player and joked that he would not mind if Haaland had a "small hamstring injury" on the day of the game.

Marsch said: "Erling texted me as soon as the schedule came out and said that he was most excited for Boxing Day and I gave him permission to have a small hamstring injury for that match!

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"But he was born here. His father has history at the club and he has, I think, the club in his heart because of that.

"Something that we talked about before when I got the (Leeds) job, was him and his father were both incredibly supportive and excited for me.

"We will expect him to be fully ready and passionate about this match, which causes issues for us."

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Pep Guardiola, too, insists Leeds can forget about Haaland going easy on them.

The City boss said: "It will not be a friendly game. They want to win, we want to win. Their fans will push their team.

"Hopefully Erling cannot be contaminated with the nice words from the opponent. I think he will be ready and I'm pretty sure Jesse would prefer to play with our good players on the pitch."

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