Young striker Erling Braut Haland became the first teenager to score a hat-trick in his Champions League debut since Wayne Rooney in 2004.
His side, Red Bull Salzburg, smashed Belgian champions Genk 6-2 on Tuesday night, with 19-year-old Haland scoring after just two minutes and completing his hat-trick before half-time.
Leeds have history with the youngster – his father is Alf-Inge Haaland, who played for Leeds from 1997-2000.
Haland was born in Leeds and he might have become a player for the city, too.
Athletic journalist Phil Hay claimed that Leeds ‘had a go’ at signing the youngster after a fan asked if they had signed Patrick Bamford instead.
Hay said, “No, Leeds had a go at Haland but he wouldn’t have been instead of Bamford.”
no, Leeds had a go at Haaland but he wouldn’t have been instead of Bamford
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) September 17, 2019
Breaking records
This isn’t the first time that Haland has got himself in the record books.
Earlier this year he became the first player to score nine goals in a single game at the Under-20s World Cup, as Norway beat Honduras 12-0. [Guardian]
He was given a 9.5 rating from WhoScored last night but still wasn’t the best player on the pitch, with Salzburg’s Hwang Hee-Chan getting a very rare 10.
Haland signed for Salzburg for a fee of £4.5m in January and has been on fire recently, with an incredible 11 goals in seven games in the Bundesliga this season.
His side sit at the top of the Austrian league with a perfect seven wins from seven games.
Leeds fans will be wondering what might have been. They signed Patrick Bamford in the summer of 2018 and it sounds like that the was the time they were interested in Haland, too.
The fee of £4.5m is a lot of money for an untested player who would have been 18 back then. However, the thought of Haland developing under Marcelo Bielsa is a mouth-watering one.