Erling Haaland put on 26lbs muscle in a year, ex-coach reveals striker has 'freak' genes

All eyes in the Bundesliga were on Erling Haaland last weekend as the Bundesliga return saw him net in the Revierderby against Schalke. The Borussia Dortmund striker has managed to grab the spotlight with his scintillating performances in the 2019-20 season. Erling Haaland, son of former Man City man Alf-Inge Haaland, has retained the prolific form he displayed while at Red Bull Salzburg since moving to Borussia Dortmund. Haaland has already scored a total of 41 goals in the season while playing for Red Bull Salzburg and Dortmund. The halt in the season due to coronavirus seemingly did not have an effect on his Midas touch in front of goal. Erling Haaland opened the scoring for Dortmund in their first match since the coronavirus suspension against Schalke last weekend. 

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Erling Haaland Dortmund 

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Erling Haaland's transformation from a skinny kid to a mean goalscoring machine

Dortmund star Erling Haaland has been in the thick of action since his days at Molde. During his early days, Erling Haaland spent most of his time in the gym as people at his old club thought he was too lanky to play as a striker and needed to put on some weight in order to battle it out with defenders. Erling Haaland's former physical coach, Erase Steenslid, revealed that the 19-year-old's genetics have played a huge role in his success. However, Erase Sttenslid also added that Erling Haaland has worked very on his physical well-being.

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In an interview with AS, Erase Steenslid said, "His body responds so well to training because his genetics are privileged. He gained twelve kilos of muscle in fifteen months. It was crazy. We built his muscle from scratch. He was always the closest to the buffet and his plate was literally a mountain of food. I designed a circuit for him were at one of the stations he had to hit a sack... and one day he split it in half."

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Erling Haaland reportedly broke the standing long jump world record for the Under-5 age group with a jump of 1.63m. Coach Alf-Ingve Berntsen, who trained the Dortmund striker for eight years at club Bryne, while talking about Erling Haaland, said, "At 13 years old I already saw that this kid was going to make the Norwegian national team. He has a very special work ethic and tactical sense."

Haaland Dortmund goal celebration against Schalke