Erling Haaland statue sculpture Dortmund

NRK.no & Getty

Haaland emulates Ronaldo & Salah as bizarre statue of Borussia Dortmund striker is made in Norway

The prolific Norwegian forward is seeing his exploits recognised by those in Algard, with a giant wooden sculpture being created

Erling Haaland has become the latest football superstar to be immortalised in statue form, with the Borussia Dortmund striker following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah when it comes to bizarre monuments.

The 21-year-old has become the subject of a giant wooden sculpture in his homeland, with said design being pieced together in Algard – a town close to the Jaeren district in southern Norway where a prolific frontman grew up.

He is in good company when it comes to such recognition, with a man being heavily linked with Manchester City and Real Madrid ahead of the summer transfer window joining an exclusive club that already includes iconic figures on the books of Manchester United and Liverpool.

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What does the Haaland statue look like?

Norwegian artist Kjetil Barane is the man charged with the task of creating the Haaland statue.

He is carving the giant sculpture using a chainsaw, with the finished product set to stand over three metres tall while weighing more than 700kgs.

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“It is a great honour for me to be allowed to make him as a sculpture, it's really tough,” Barane has told NRK.

“It is very nice to work with wood. You can see that it bursts and lives, it gets its own character.”

What do the Ronaldo & Salah statues look like?

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who is currently back at Old Trafford for a second spell with Manchester United, was famously the subject of a bronze bust unveiled at Madeira airport in 2017.

Since then, the iconic Portuguese forward has also seen a statue erected in Goa.

Liverpool star Salah must have been left a little puzzled when discovering what a statue constructed in his honour looked like when it was revealed to the world in Sharm El-Sheikh back in 2018.

Another of the more infamous footballing statues to have been produced down the years is one that was produced to recognise the achievements of former Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder Michael Essien.