Salzburg phenomenon Erling Haaland is currently on a diet used by Cristiano Ronaldo as he attempts to emulate the career of the Portuguese icon.
The 19-year-old striker is set to face the biggest test of his career when he comes up against Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool in the Champions League at Anfield on Wednesday.
Haaland made headlines last month after scoring a hat-trick on his Champions League debut against Genk, becoming the first teenager to get a treble in the competition since Wayne Rooney in 2004.
Erling’s father Alfie, who played for Manchester City and Leeds, admitted his son was more diligent in his preparation to football than he was, citing his decision to copy the eating habits of Ronaldo.
“I had to be determined to make it in the game. But Erling made all the sacrifices, leaving home at 16 to move to Molde, and he is a lot more professional than I was,” Alfie told ESPN.
“He was told a story by Patrice Evra about a lunch he had with Ronaldo and Cristiano had fish, nothing else.
“Erling now tries to do the same things because Ronaldo is 34 and still at the top of the game, so it shows the value of doing the right things.”
The 194cm striker says he looks up to Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and has backed himself to continue the Scandinavian legacy of the LA Galaxy forward.
“I had a lot of role models and I have seen many good players, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the biggest one for me – how he became so good, the [path] he took, the way he plays,” Haaland told TV2 recently.
“Also, he is Scandinavian, so someone has to take over from him.”
Haaland has dominated for Salzburg this season, scoring a stunning 11 goals in eight Austrian Bundesliga games to go along with his European hat-trick.