Erling Haaland has already become one of the best strikers in the world at the age of 21-years-old, following 82 goals in 85 appearances since joining Borussia Dortmund in 2019, while he is the subject of huge transfer rumours linking him to Manchester City this summer.
But last year, his 18-year-old cousin Albert Braut Tjaaland also followed in his footsteps by hitting the headlines at such a young age, after his remarkable goal scoring stats were revealed for youth teams in Norway, while he scored on his professional debut last year.
Here is all you need to know about Albert Braut Tjaaland, including who he plays for and whether he can become the next player in his family to hit the big time.
Who is Albert Braut Tjaaland?
Albert Braut Tjaaland is an 18-year-old professional footballer from Norway who currently plays as a striker for Norwegian second tier club Bryne on loan from top flight club Molde. However, he is best known for being the cousin of Borussia Dortmund striker and Norway international Erling Haaland.
This also makes him the nephew of Alf-Inge Haaland, who was also a Norwegian international and played for Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Man City, while another of his cousins, 21-year-old striker Jonatan Braut Brunes, plays for Norwegian top flight club Lillestrom.
Standing at 1.80m tall (5ft 10in), he doesn’t quite possess the same physical stature as his cousin, Haaland, yet the pair look frighteningly similar and share a number of qualities on the pitch such as their shooting and pace. Tjaaland is, however, right footed, but this doesn’t seem to make much difference.
Could Albert Braut Hjaaland become as good as Erling Haaland? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Career so far
Tjaaland started out at local lower-league side Rosseland, before following in Haaland’s footsteps by joining the youth ranks of second division outfit Bryne, in which he immediately joined the under 13s side despite being 11-years-old, playing right the way through until the under 19s.
In October 2019, he made his debut for Bryne 2 in a Norwegian third division match by coming on as a substitute, and after impressing with a remarkable 40 goals in 31 games for the youth teams, he was invited to train with the first team, before making his debut in March 2020 during a friendly game. Tjaaland then transferred to Molde in the summer of 2020.
Following his move, he gained attention after recording a further 64 goals in his first 37 games for the youth teams, while he hit the headlines once more after scoring on his professional debut for Molde last year, coming off the bench in the 83rd minute before hitting the back of the net a few minutes later. The teenager has also scored once in two appearances for Norway under 21s.
What’s been said
When his statistics for both Bryne and Molde’s youth teams were revealed, which total more than 100 goals already, it was only natural that the comparisons with his cousin would be made and questions were raised over whether he would be the next sensation to come out of the Haaland family gene pool.
After scoring on his professional Molde debut, plenty of hype has already been circulating around the teenager, but his manager told Eurosport : "He has a great future ahead of him if he does the everyday things 100 per cent and correctly. But I think that Erling is still a few steps ahead. He [Tjaaland] is an exciting boy with many good qualities."
In 2020, when asked about Haaland and his own future, Tjaaland told local Norwegian outlet Jaerbladet, via Goal : "It's cool what he does, but I hear about it (the comparisons) often, and it can be nice to let it go from time to time. In the short term, I really want to get into the age-specific national team. In the long run, I hope to be able to make a living from playing football."
