Erling Haaland’s case of mistaken identity: How he left spider-man on read

• Norway striker admits he had no idea who was messaging him at the Monaco Grand Prix
• Actor took the snub in good humour during US chat show appearance

Erling Haaland has cleared up one of the more unlikely subplots of his summer after Tom Holland revealed the Manchester City striker had left him on read following an invitation to dinner at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The story surfaced when Holland appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week and described spotting Haaland in a hospitality suite while watching the Formula 1 action from the paddock.

Keen to meet the striker, the Spider-Man actor sent him a message extending a dinner invite. Nothing came back.

Holland told Fallon he never so much as got a reply, joking that the silence was a useful reminder that even A-list actors get humbled every now and then.

The clip did the rounds quickly, with plenty of amusement at the idea of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars being stood up by a footballer.

But Haaland has now offered his side of the story, and it turns out the explanation is far more innocent than a deliberate snub.

Haaland says he simply didn’t recognise Holland’s name

Speaking on Norwegian talk show A Laget, Haaland admitted the whole episode came down to a simple case of mistaken identity.

By his own admission, the striker doesn’t follow film or television closely enough to have recognised who was getting in touch, and assumed the message had come from someone he didn’t know.

Rather than a snub, it was, in his telling, an honest mix-up — he had no idea the person on the other end of the message was one of the most famous actors on the planet.

Now that the confusion has been cleared up, Haaland says he plans to reach out and make things right, with a dinner between the pair still very much on the cards.

It’s a lighthearted moment amid what has otherwise been a difficult few weeks for the 25-year-old, whose Norway side were knocked out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage by England.

Despite the disappointment of an early exit, Haaland has been gracious about it, saying he’ll be supporting England for the rest of the tournament — a nod to the affection he held for the Three Lions as a boy growing up.

For City supporters, the episode says as much about Haaland’s growing global profile as it does about his taste in cinema.

Here is a player recognisable enough to be picked out and messaged by one of the world’s biggest movie stars, yet seemingly unaware of who was doing the recognising.

It’s the kind of story that wouldn’t have followed him around a few years ago, back when he was banging in goals for Salzburg and Dortmund with considerably less fanfare — a measure of just how far his celebrity has travelled since he arrived at the Etihad.

Whether the pair actually sit down for that dinner remains to be seen. With Norway’s World Cup campaign now over and pre-season preparations at City edging closer, Haaland may finally have a gap in the diary to make good on his word.

City are due back for pre-season training in the coming weeks, with reports suggesting a mid-to-late July return date for the squad, so any reunion with Holland would likely need to happen sooner rather than later.

Minor as it is, the story has added a touch of levity to City’s summer headlines, which have otherwise been dominated by more serious transfer business — from ongoing interest in reinforcements for Pep Guardiola’s midfield to speculation over the futures of several first-team fringe players.

For now, though, it’s Haaland’s phone etiquette, rather than his finishing, making the news.