Erling Haaland kept girlfriend Isabell Haugseng Johansen’s pregnancy secret from team-mates prior to record-breaking night with Norway

The Manchester City superstar announced to the world that he is to become a father after enjoying another record-breaking evening in his career of choice. The prolific 24-year-old has become Norway’s all-time leading goalscorer.

He rewrote the history books when bagging a brace in a 3-0 Nations League win over Slovenia – taking him to 34 strikes for his country through just 36 appearances. Afterwards, Haaland posted an image on social media of him sucking his thumb while shoving a ball under his shirt – alongside baby and “soon” emojis.

Haaland’s long-time partner, Johansen, responded with “he did that” and he will be a “very good” father when quizzed on her boyfriend’s antics by Dagbladet. News of the impending arrival has, however, come as a welcome shock to the striker’s international colleagues.

Morten Thorsby told reporters: "We just found out, he had hidden it from us too. We congratulated him in the locker room 15 minutes ago. It's great fun. A fantastic day for him. We found out from the photo on social media. He is good at keeping things like that hidden. Erling was lying on the massage table and getting a massage. There were congratulations there and everyone found out at the same time. Of course, he was very happy." Andreas Hanche-Olsen added: "We saw this post on Instagram which is not too difficult to interpret. It's crazy news after breaking the goal record. Everyone is very happy for him."

Haaland will join City team-mate Jack Grealish in the new parent club at the Etihad Stadium, with the England international playmaker becoming the proud father to daughter Mila. Haaland has another outing with Norway, against Austria, to come before returning to the reigning Premier League champions.