Erling Haaland has been told by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola that he can take compassionate leave if he requires time away from football following the death of Ivar Eggja.
Haaland paid tribute to Eggja – a family friend he affectionately called his ‘uncle’ – in an Instagram post on Thursday following his death at the age of 59.
Alongside several photos of himself and Eggja, Haaland wrote: ‘You are a legend, Ivar. Words cannot describe how much you meant to me! Words cannot describe how much you will be missed!
‘I don’t give a s***! I don’t give a s***! That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Thank you for everything, you madman. We will see each other again. Rest in peace, Ivar.’
Haaland trained with his City team-mates later on Thursday but Guardiola has made it clear that family comes before football and he will therefore allow his star striker to miss Saturday’s home game against Brentford if he wishes to be elsewhere.
Erling Haaland (right) recently lost family friend Ivar Eggja (left) when he died at the age of 59
Eggja attended last year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony alongside Manchester City striker Haaland
City boss Pep Guardiola (left) has told Haaland that he can take compassionate leave if needed
However, Haaland may decide that he wants to play as he has been in outstanding form so far this season.
The 24-year-old – who has won the Golden Boot in each of the last two Premier League seasons – has scored seven goals in his first three top-flight appearances of the 2024-25 campaign.
After scoring once in a 2-0 win at Chelsea on the opening weekend, Haaland has bagged back-to-back hat-tricks in victories over Ipswich Town and West Ham.
Were he to score another trio of goals against Brentford on Saturday then Haaland would become the first player in Premier League history to hit hat-tricks in three consecutive games.
That feat has been achieved in England’s top division prior to the Premier League era but not since 1946.
In total, just four players have managed to score three hat-tricks in a row in England’s highest division.
Goal machine Haaland has scored a hat-trick in each of City’s last two Premier League games
After netting three times against Ipswich Town, Haaland repeated the feat away at West Ham
Tottenham’s Frank Osborne was the first in 1925 – with his hat-tricks coming against Liverpool, Leicester and West Ham.
Tom Jennings followed suit a year later when he struck a hat-trick of hat-tricks for Leeds against Arsenal, Liverpool and Blackburn.
Everton legend Dixie Dean then joined the club in the second half of the 1927-28 season – during which he scored an English league record of 60 goals, including hat-tricks against Burnley, Arsenal and Bolton.
The most recent player to score three straight hat-tricks in England’s top tier was Jack Balmer in 1946 when he did so for Liverpool against Portsmouth, Derby and Arsenal.
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