Erling Haaland reveals drastic new haircut as he gets his blond locks chopped off

Consider this an obituary: Erling Haaland has cut his hair.

Yep, I can't believe it either but the viking himself has chopped off the blond locks ahead of Manchester City's first match of the 26/27 Premier League season this afternoon (23 August).

His luscious hair tied up in a blonde ponytail, top knot and flowing in a bob have almost become a staple of the team as well as being recreated in endless memes during the World Cup.

So, it feels like quite the change (and admit it, huge shock to fans) for the Norwegian to chop it off. And Haaland took to X to announce the surprising change this morning, writing: "New season, new trim."

But fans are already fearing the footballer has cut off the 'good luck charm' as one simply wrote: "Erling what did you do."

Another post showed the stages of the hair cut, as he progressed from his notorious longer hair to well, very, very short hair - he's not far from a buzz cut by the looks of it.

"Short hair don't care," the star striker wrote. And his team followed it up too, commenting on Instagram: "New season, new hair."

Already a major name in the Premier League, Haaland captured the hearts of even those who don't care much about football during the World Cup.

The viral star embraced the culture over in the US, rocking cowboy boots and a Southern accent in videos with his slick-back hair on the pitch gaining huge traction.

His blonde knot was soon trending on TikTok with fans even seeking out where he buys his hair bobbles from.

But it seems Haaland certainly won't be needing those for a while, unless he takes on some crazy hair growth wizardry.

The surprising change even seems to have knocked a few years off the 26-year-old, as he arguably looks like a lad in his early 20s, or even a teenager, again with the short hair.

"He looks 5 years younger WOW!" one user wrote on X.

While another joked: "You look more Erling than Haaland right now."

Naturally, plenty of fans are worried about the 'good luck charm' having been taken away, as one account put: "I hope your super powers weren't linked to your locks."

"This season is gonna be long," another cried.

Others even fear the 'viking aura is gone' as they say 'the power is in the hair' with some laughing: "Every header will now be over the bar."

But plenty of fans are refusing to believe that it's even real, as one told him: "Stop trolling man wtf is this now."

However, others think it's a good thing, and shows Haaland is 'serious' about the game as he takes away one of the things that he'd been going viral for so the focus can be on 'his football skills more than hair'.

"Goal machine with new look," one called him.

Well, I guess we'll see how the new trim plays out on the pitch, as Manchester City face Bournemouth at 2pm today.