Manchester City star Erling Haaland is hardly a stranger to Chinese football fans, but on Saturday the towering Norwegian took time to introduce himself to them properly.
The subject of countless memes on the country’s social media platforms because of his goal-scoring feats, Haaland launched his own Weibo account and said it was “time to clear up a few things”.
In a 45-second video, the 6ft 5in (1.95 metres) striker answered questions from fans while “officially debunking some rumours”.
Responding to a question about how much he eats every day, Haaland said “a lot” and also acknowledged that his prowess in front of goal might make it seem like “sometimes I am [a robot]”.
Haaland also replied, “yeah, I would say so” when a fan commented and said the prolific scorer “runs like [he is using] cheat codes” to describe his dazzling speed.
The 25-year-old, who scored 27 goals in 35 English Premier League appearances last season, then ended the video on a high note, repeating his Chinese nickname Ha Bao, which means “Haaland is a treasure” in Mandarin, and said: “I think this is a really nice nickname, I like it a lot.”