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Manchester City striker Erling Haaland uploaded a couple of hilarious Instagram stories as the Cityzens gear up for a friendly against Barcelona on Tuesday (July 30). In his first Instagram story, the Norway international could be spotted hilariously misspelling 'Orlando', where they play their next game.
He uploaded the aforementioned photo with Manchester City teammate Jack Grealish. Soon after, the 24-year-old attacker hilariously apologised for this error and wrote:
"Orlando (with multiple asterisk marks) Not even allowed to write something wrong now in this perfect world sorry to all the perfect brothers and sisters out there."
Besides working on his spellings, Haaland will want to ensure that he is in top form before the start of the Premier League campaign. The former Borussia Dortmund man scored in his team's previous friendly loss to AC Milan on Saturday (July 27).
Despite not matching his incredible first season at the Etihad, Haaland did enjoy a good goalscoring campaign last year. He scored 38 goals and bagged six assists in 45 appearances across competitions during the 2023/24 season.
This was a significant drop in comparison to the incredible 52 goals that the Norwegian netted in 53 matches across competitions in the 2022/23 campaign. Manchester City will kickstart their English top-flight season with a trip to Stamford Bridge, where a test against Chelsea awaits them on August 18.
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland raises concerns about players' wellbeing in taxing football seasons
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has raised concerns over the fitness and ability of players to perform at a high level in campaigns with over 70 matches a year.
While Haaland enjoyed time off during Euro 2024, many others had to endure a gruelling international campaign. Claiming that players looked tired in these competitions, he said (via The Guardian):
"We all saw in Euros as well in general how tired people were. You could see the level, you could even see in people's faces how tired they were of football, if you can say it that way.
"That's how it will be as well this season, not in the start, though maybe for some because some will not get a lot of vacation. But that's the way we're going now, and I don't think we can be sharp in every single game."
There will be pressure on Haaland and Co. to stay sharp once the season commences. They managed to win their fourth consecutive Premier League trophy last year.
