Erling Haaland Unveils New Haircut Ahead of Manchester City Season
Erling Haaland walked into Manchester City’s new Premier League season with a new manager, a new era – and now, a new haircut.
The Norwegian striker unveiled a fresh, cropped look ahead of City’s curtain raiser against Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon, ditching the long, tied-back hair that had become part of his on‑pitch persona. The shorter style harks back to his early Borussia Dortmund days, a throwback cut for a forward now operating at the peak of his powers.
Haaland teased the change on social media, posting a series of images on X charting the stages of the trim, captioned simply: “New hair don't care”. The post landed hours before kick-off, just as Sky Sports’ cameras began to build up to the first game of the post‑Pep Guardiola era at the Etihad.
The decision marks a clear break from advice he once received from another iconic Scandinavian forward. Speaking to Fox Sports in July, Haaland revealed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic had urged him to keep his hair long.
“Zlatan – you know what he told me? ‘Never cut your hair because the strength is in the hair,’” Haaland said at the time.
That “strength” has hardly been in question. Haaland comes into this season off the back of a World Cup that supercharged his global profile. At the 2026 tournament, he fired Norway to a historic quarter-final appearance, scoring seven goals along the way and emerging as one of the competition’s standout figures.
His impact went far beyond the pitch. Across the 39 days of the World Cup, Haaland’s Instagram following exploded by more than 32 million, the largest growth of any player involved. The numbers underlined what was already obvious: he is no longer just a goalscorer, but a fully fledged global star whose personality and online presence draw in an audience that stretches well beyond Manchester City and Norway.
Those millions of new followers will now see a different version of him. The first competitive glimpse of the new hairstyle will come as City step into unfamiliar territory – a season without Guardiola on the touchline for the first time in more than a decade. The Catalan stepped down at the end of last season, closing one of the most dominant managerial chapters English football has seen.
Into that void steps Enzo Maresca, the former City assistant turned head coach, who takes charge of his first Premier League match at the Etihad. The system may evolve, the patterns may shift, but one thing has not changed: Haaland remains the focal point of this side.
Maresca will build around him. The expectation is clear – the 26‑year‑old leads the line, leads the scoring charts, and leads the new era.
City do not come into the opener untouched. A 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield last weekend served as a jolt, an early reminder that life after Guardiola will not be handed to them. Maresca, though, has publicly backed his squad to respond as the real business begins.
So Haaland walks out under a different manager, with a different look, but the same burden: carry City’s attack, carry the narrative, carry the weight of a club determined to prove its dominance survives any haircut – and any coach.
