Haaland 'no different' after Man City verdict

Erling Haaland has been unaffected by the "sham contract" verdict against Manchester City, Norway's camp said, and he will play against Wales in Cardiff on Thursday, 1 October, in a Nations League match at 19:45 BST. He has scored 65 goals in 57 international appearances for Norway.

Haaland was kept away from the media before and after Norway's Nations League defeat by Portugal on Sunday after reports of City's guilty verdict first emerged. As expected, he was not put in front of the cameras as the World Cup quarter-finalists arrived in Wales amid headlines over his club and what next for the former champions, who continue to deny any wrongdoing. He signed for City in 2022, four years after the last of the nine seasons they were found to have broken financial rules. He trained as normal at Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday evening, with Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer saying Haaland had been "no different" since the news broke.

Manager Stale Solbakken attempted to deflect questions, saying Haaland was "very good" and "scoring goals" before admitting he did miss one chance against Portugal he would normally have finished. Asked if he had to speak to the forward because of the extra focus, Solbakken replied: "What we speak about is between him and me."

Ajer said Haaland remained fully focused halfway through this four-game Nations League window, adding: "He's been exactly the way he's always the same with the national team." He also said: "He's truly focused on the upcoming games."

Asked if he had seen a difference in Haaland since the news broke, 59-cap Ajer said: "No not at all. Ever since I met him brings lot of energy and joy to the group." He added: "The biggest compliment I always give is that he hasn't changed a bit from the moment I met him even though he's the biggest star on the planet right now."

Haaland, who scored in the 2-1 defeat by Portugal in Oslo and twice in the 3-2 win over Denmark to make it 65 in 57 appearances for his national side, could link up with Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard. The Norway captain trained in Cardiff following the challenge from former Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva that was the subject of criticism on Friday night.

Solbakken praised Bellamy's impact on Wales, despite their winless run of six, saying he has "modern ideas" and suggested the side are simply low in confidence after missing out on a place in the summer's World Cup following a play-off defeat on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ajer added he could see similarities between the sides, saying: "So obviously we followed that journey Wales were on [in 2016] and obviously it was nice that it was our turn, so we're expecting a very, very tough game tomorrow with two equal sides that are playing the same kind of football."

Thursday's match will be shown live on BBC iPlayer, BBC Two Wales, BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and 5 Live, and on the BBC Sport website and app with live text commentary.