Statue of Manchester City star Erling Haaland is STOLEN from his home town in Norway after complaints it was too UGLY
- The 10ft effigy was carved out of a single tree in Bryne and put up two weeks ago
- It depicts the 22-year-old footballing superstar in his full Norwegian match kit
- Statue was supposed to go to auction to raise money for a hospital in Tanzania
- However, thief is believed to have used a crane on Wednesday to steal it
A 10ft statue of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has gone missing from his home town in Norway following complaints it was too ugly.
The effigy, carved out of a tree in Bryne depicting the 22-year-old footballing superstar in his full Norwegian match kit, was supposed to go to auction to raise money for a hospital in Tanzania.
However, a thief – suspected to be a disgruntled fan – is thought to have used a crane to take the statue away from its position above a store on Wednesday.
A 10ft statue of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland (pictured) has gone missing from his home town in Norway following complaints it was too ugly
Local businessman Tore Sivertsen paid £10,000 to commission the almost one-tonne statue of Haaland, who signed for England’s Manchester City this summer.
Even he conceded that statue was not the most attractive.
‘We are all enormously proud of Erling. I thought it would be good to commission a statue to pay tribute,’ Mr Sivertsen, who runs a tractor dealership, told The Sun.
‘Some have complained it is too ugly though, let’s face it, Erling is not a pretty guy,’ he added. But he was shocked that someone would try to steal it.
Wood sculptor Kjetil Barane spent a year meticulously crafting the wooden statue from a 100-year-old log. It was hoisted in to place two weeks ago.
‘I accept it may not be to everyone’s taste but I like it,’ Siversten went on. ‘It’s a work of art rather than a realistic representation of Erling Haaland.’
Erling Haaland (pictured on August 21 playing for Manchester City in their 3-3 draw against Newcastle United) joined Manchester City for a fee of around £50million after setting Germany’s Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund, where he scored 67 goals in two years
Haaland has also scored a staggering 20 goals in 21 appearances for Norway
Haaland joined Manchester City for a fee of around £50million after setting Germany’s Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund, where he scored 67 goals in two years. He has also scored a staggering 20 goals in 21 appearances for Norway.
At just 22, he is considered one of the best players in the world, and is expected to improve even further as he plies his trade for the English Premier League champions.
The statue of Haaland is not the only state of a footballer that has been criticised for being too ugly.
In 2017, Madeira’s airport had its name changed to ‘Aeroporto Cristiano Ronaldo’ after the Portuguese footballing megastar Cristiano Ronaldo. At the time time, a bust of Ronaldo was unveiled – and was met with widespread mockery.
In 2017, Madeira’s airport had its name changed to ‘Aeroporto Cristiano Ronaldo’ after the Portuguese footballing megastar Cristiano Ronaldo. At the time time, a bust of Ronaldo was unveiled – and was met with widespread mockery
People were quick to point out that the artwork was far from a perfect likeness of the Manchester United forward, and it was later replaced
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (pictured right) was also immortalised in the form of a bizarre sculpture (pictured left) in Egypt
People were quick to point out that the artwork was far from a perfect likeness of the Manchester United forward, and it was later replaced.
It was not the first statue of Ronaldo attracted criticism either. Another statue of the player, this time a full-body one, was also previously mocked.
That statue, unveiled in 2014 on the same Portuguese island, raised a few eyebrows – with many claiming the artist has been somewhat ‘generous’ to the footballer in the shorts department.
In 2018, Liverpool’s Egyptian talisman Mohamed Salah was given the Cristiano Ronaldo treatment after a bizarre statue was unveiled in his home country.
The odd-looking sculpture, which went on display at the World Youth Forum in Sharm El Sheikh, was ridiculed online and compared to a host of fictional characters.