When the final whistle echoed through the Etihad Stadium, Erling Haaland knew his mission was complete. With a sense of triumph, he untied his long, Viking-like hair, removed his shirt, and celebrated with the ecstatic Manchester City supporters.

The 25-year-old forward, displaying his smooth, shaven armpits—a common practice among footballers to prevent chafing—stood covered from neck to waist in scars, scratches, and marks. His recent 90-minute clash with his familiar rival Gabriel resembled a wrestling match more than a football duel.

This encounter was a classic showdown filled with pushing, shoving, and even an alleged headbutt between the Manchester City and Arsenal players. They battled fiercely, with the Premier League title hanging in the balance.

The intensity of the match was best illustrated when Haaland shrugged off Gabriel as the ball bounced his way inside the box, allowing him to slide in a goal that significantly impacted the title race.

Gabriel is renowned as one of the Premier League’s and the world’s most formidable defenders. It requires immense strength not only to fend him off but also to control him well enough to score.

Erling Haaland showed off his incredible physique after Man City’s 2-1 win over Arsenal

The striker displayed incredible strength to hold off gabriel to score the winning goal

Yet, when Haaland removed his number-nine City jersey just moments after his goal—following another physical encounter with the Brazilian that left his undershirt torn—it became evident why the striker could stand his ground against such a tough opponent.

The man is shredded.

Haaland is a unique form of striker in this modern age, a machine some would say. He’s fast, he’s deadly in front of goal, and he’s built like an ox. The perfect combination for making the best striker in the world.

While the Norwegian is clearly physically gifted in many ways, it’s taken a lot of work, dedication, and, some would say, crazy methods. The striker has a very distinctive way of both fueling himself and maintaining the right shape to compete at the top level year-round.

Haaland’s 6,000-calorie-per-day diet 

It turns out it takes more than just your average 2,500-calorie-per-day diet to fuel the most dangerous striker in the Premier League. Chicken and rice don’t quite cut it for Haaland.

Cow hearts and livers can often be found on the menu, as referenced in Haaland: The Big Decision – the documentary made around his move to Manchester City – which are not items you would see every day on a regular pub menu.

‘You other people don’t eat this (heart and liver), but I am concerned with taking care of my body,’ Haaland explained in the documentary. ‘I think eating quality food that is as local as possible is the most important.

‘Or the local cow eating grass right over there? I eat the heart and the liver.’

Such unusual dietary habits are part of the City man’s 6,000-calorie-per-day diet. Yes, you read that right. When you consume such an unfathomable amount of calories, it can’t all be clean eating, though.

And it’s not. Haaland sticks to his meat-loving habits and, on occasion, switches out animal organs for a greasy kebab. In his documentary about his move to Manchester, Haaland: The Big Decision, the 25-year-old revealed his deep affection for kebabs, stating simply, ‘I love it’.

There is plenty of milk in Haaland’s diet , which he calls his ‘magic potion’ for success

Haaland  regularly grabs his raw milk alongside heaps of meat from a local farm 

Also regularly on his shopping list – as shown on his access-all-areas YouTube channel – gigantic barbecue steaks, raw honey, and milk, lots of milk. Haaland loves the stuff, especially raw milk, and he once described it as his ‘magic potion’.

The Norwegian loves pairing his milk with a breakfast of eggs on sourdough and a cup of coffee with maple syrup at his six-bedroom mansion in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, which he shares with his girlfriend Isabel Haugsend Johansen.

‘Coffee is a super food in my eyes – if you do it right,’ Haaland explained on his YouTube channel.

‘Why? Depends on the quality, when you drink it, and of course, how. I’m into my coffee. It needs a little bit of (raw) milk in – super food as well, I think.’

During the video, Haaland also showcased his love for fish. He ate a lunch of sea bass, asparagus, and egg fried rice before joining his team-mates on the pitch at the Etihad campus.

Red-light therapy and recovery methods  

To be able to perform at the level Haaland does every week, he needs to be extremely regimented with his recovery each day. Not just when at City’s training base in East Manchester, but also when he is at home with Johansen in Cheshire.

His go-to methods? Red-light therapy, saunas, ice baths, and individual physio sessions. These all help get the most out of his body.

In the first video on his eponymous channel, launched back in October, the Norwegian demonstrated the importance of getting some sunlight on your skin early doors with a walk.

Haaland loves a peaceful but productive start to the day, spending time with his girlfriend Johansen, whom he met when playing at the youth academy at Bryne.

But his serene start to the day is usually interrupted by Manchester City physio Mario Pafundi, who Haaland has jokingly nicknamed ‘Italian f***’, and then it’s off to work for the day.

On YouTube, Pafundi can be seen giving Haaland a massage and treatment session, with the City star revealing the secrets to how he scores ‘crazy’ goals – including his famous strike against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Haaland also uses an ice bath at least five times a week at his Cheshire home 

The striker owns a sauna outside the six-bed property in the north’s ‘Footballer Belt’

Haaland is a fan of red light therapy in his home, designed to aid recovery and injury

‘I have a natural good flexibility in my groin and hips, which for me is so important to keep because how else do you score these goals?’ Haaland said. ‘You need to have good mobility or flexibility to score these crazy goals, so we need to keep this.’

The session also includes red-light therapy, which uses infrared rays to penetrate deep into tissues and joints, to aid his recovery. Advocates say light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can repair damaged tissue, calm the body’s response to injury, and reduce inflammation.

‘From the sun we get a lot of red light,’ Haaland added.

But seeing as the video was filmed as autumn turned to winter last year, and the days became shorter, Haaland needed to use a machine to ‘get a bit of red light on my back and on my body.’

On most evenings, Haaland takes an ice bath and a sauna, two things he tries to do ‘almost every day and at least five times a week.’

It has long been known that the cold plunge, while not the most pleasant experience, is brilliant for recovery after periods of intense exercise. Haaland is not the only footballer to use them on the regular – Cristiano Ronaldo loves a midnight dip into ice.

An ice bath produces a mini shock to the metabolic system of the athlete who gets in it, while they fight off delayed onset muscle soreness.

And boy, I bet Haaland was sore after his battle with Gabriel. My bet is the ice bath was used within minutes of him leaving the Etihad turf on Sunday night.