Erling Haaland: Manchester City star credited with carrot sales boom in native Norway
Erling Haaland’s brand power shifted into a new stratosphere at the World Cup – and the proof is in Norway’s carrot sales.
Haaland has long appeared in internet clips and memes with carrots dangling from his mouth – while signing autographs for fans or driving his car – and this summer appeared in an advert for Bama, Norway’s largest fruit and veg distributor, happily eating one.
Figures show a 25.4 per cent year-on-year rise in carrot sales in his home country during the tournament, in what was described as the “Haaland-effekt” in a Norwegian fruit and vegetable market report.
During the World Cup, where Haaland scored seven goals and Norway reached the quarter-finals, his global profile rocketed – his Instagram followers alone soaring by more than 20m.
“The trajectory of growth of his own brand is seismic,” Steve Martin, founding partner at MSQ Sport and Entertainment, tells City AM. “It’s exponential against the market.”
Martin worked with David Beckham during 20 years as global chief executive of M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment and has witnessed how a player can transcend their sport.
“Haaland’s authenticity is his biggest strength,” he says. “You warm to him whether you’re a fan of Manchester City or another club. That’s a skill. He’s been able to transcend the Premier League, transcend the game.
“He has a character you’re intrigued by – he plays like an animal on the pitch, but he comes off and he’s smiley and jokey and fun. He’s like a James Bond villain on the pitch. It wouldn’t surprise me if he turned up in a Bond movie as a villain.”
Martin believes the winding down of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s careers has created the perfect conditions for the 26-year-old striker.
“Messi, Ronaldo, Beckham, Michael Jordan – they became iconic,” he says. “Haaland has that potential. The key is the endurance: can he maintain a career over the next 10 years and keep winning trophies?”
007 spotted at US Open final
Speaking of James Bond… the camera operator in charge of the giant screens at the US Open final deserves a pay rise.
Seven minutes into Alexander Zverev’s three-sets-to-one win against Ben Shelton, the big-screen camera picked out Pierce Brosnan in the Flushing Meadows crowd – the 73-year-old looking not too dissimilar to the suave MI6 agent he played between 1995 and 2002, dressed in a navy suit, open-collar shirt and sunglasses.
At that exact moment, the match clock above his head read 0.07. The Hollywood actor appeared neither shaken nor stirred by the attention. US Open sponsor Rolex, whose logo sat above the time, will have been delighted the incident went viral.
Eckert’s freestyle plea
Tonda Eckert’s video apology to Southampton fans and rival clubs for his role in the spying scandal was recorded off-the-cuff, without a script or input from lawyers.
Southampton were expelled from the play-offs and docked four points for this season by the EFL after Eckert admitted sending staff to spy on opponents. It came to light after a junior analyst was photographed filming Middlesbrough training ahead of their semi-final in May.
The club released Eckert’s video apology two weeks after being kicked out of the play-offs, having beaten Middlesbrough in the semi-finals – costing them a chance of Premier League promotion worth at least £200m.
Eckert told City AM he “would’ve loved to” apologise sooner. “But I did it and I meant everything I said and it came from the inside. It wasn’t from a script or anything prepared by media or lawyers. It was just me speaking.”
Eckert is awaiting the outcome of an independent panel hearing the case during the international break, after being charged with misconduct by the Football Association. If found guilty, sanctions range from a fine to a lengthy ban, which could cost him his job.
During preseason friendlies, the club trialled assistant manager Ben Garner on the touchline and Eckert in the stands, in case the German is handed a shorter suspension.
Fulham loos are a win at last
It has been a bugbear of many regular match-going Fulham fans that, despite £100m spent on the plush Riverside Stand, the toilets in the Hammersmith End had been left to deteriorate.
While supporters in the Premier League’s most expensive stand enjoy access to haute cuisine curated by Michelin-star chefs, a sky deck with views across London and even a swimming pool, toilets elsewhere in the stadium had tiles falling off the walls and chronic leaks.
Members of the Fulham Supporters’ Trust repeatedly raised the issue in meetings with the club for around a year before a major refurbishment finally took place. Plumbing and electrics have been upgraded, new floors and cubicles installed and damaged doors replaced, among a raft of improvements.
Thai retailer jumps on Townsend mishap
Andros Townsend has become an unlikely internet sensation after moving to Thailand and sharing his unconventional diet on social media.
The former Spurs and England winger, who plays for Thai club PT Prachuap, has posted videos discussing nutrition, which includes eating steamed chicken feet, drinking bone broth and fasting for 16 hours a day.
He went viral for altogether different reasons last weekend when he was run over – though, thankfully, not badly injured – by a heavy pitch roller while warming up before a match.
Opportunistic Thai retailer Powerlife Ventures posted an Instagram story showing Townsend’s cut leg and highlighting the unscathed Sokito boots he wears, which they happen to stock.
“Our products… built to last, built to protect,” they wrote. “Get your non-flattened products today.”