Erling Braut Haaland caused chaos in London – was presented as the new Nike ambassador in Oxford Street

MANCHESTER (VG) Injured Erling Braut Haaland (22) and the other Manchester City players have been given three days off. On Tuesday he appeared in London.

There he was officially presented as Nike’s new “poster boy”. At Oxford Circus in London, the audience went wild when the superstar appeared in the heart of the English capital.

During Viaplay’s broadcast before the big game between Chelsea and Liverpool on Tuesday, it was seen that passers-by wanted to get their share of the Manchester City forward.

Security guards had to help Haaland through the massive crowd consisting of hundreds of people, who screamed the Norwegian’s name and tried to take pictures and video.

– It is so incredible that he is Norwegian. He is a world star. It is like watching the great actors and singing stars. It’s unreal. I have walked that street so many times, there are never so many people when we have walked there. It’s huge. I don’t think people realize how big he has become, says Liverpool legend John Arne Riise in Viaplay’s studio when he gets to see the pictures.

The large Nike store was already closed at 3pm as a result of the presentation, according to Viaplay reporter Jan-Åge Fjørtoft.

Later, he sat on the podium at Nike and talked about the brand new deal.

– It is an honor for me and the family to see these pictures around here. I am very happy and proud, says Erling Braut Haaland about the posters hanging around him.

The previous deal with Nike expired in January 2022 and he has since worn football boots from Adidas and Puma, and there has been much speculation as to who he was going to sign for.

On Twitter, Nike wrote last week: “A new era of number 9”. Followed by: “Erling Haaland is a force of nature”.

The English newspaper The Athletic has previously reported that there will be an agreement of around NOK 250 million a year. Several report that the agreement will be for at least ten years, and there is speculation as to whether he will front the “No 9” shoe, which was launched in 1998 inspired by the Brazilian Ronaldo.

Nike’s star team already includes Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Kevin De Bruyne, Leah Williamson and Ada Hegerberg.

– I felt very comfortable with the shoes. I scored quite a few goals with them. There were quite a few goals with the new shoes, says Haaland – and points out that he has scored nine goals in three games.

He also commented on the title battle that Manchester City is fighting against Martin Ødegaard and Arsenal. Haaland’s team is eight points behind the league leader, admittedly with one game less played.

– I know there are so many points ahead of us, but we’ll see if I can catch Ødegaard or not, Haaland jokes about his friend.

Haaland had to miss the international matches against Spain and Georgia, and also missed the 4-1 victory against Liverpool. The next game for Manchester City is away to Southampton at the weekend. Manager Pep Guardiola said at the weekend that the players have been given three days off after the victory against Liverpool, and that he hopes to see Haaland back soon.