Erling Haaland and Luke Littler may have more in common than their supreme talent at their respective sports.
The Manchester City star and the teenage darts sensation share a passion for relaxing with the same video-game ahead of their respective commitments on the pitch and at the oche.
Last week, Littler was spotted playing FIFA before taking on home favorite Dirk van Duijvenbode at the Dutch Masters.
Haaland is also a fan of the franchise, which has rebranded to EA FC 24 as of this year, and revealed he plays as himself.
‘I don’t have any special routines,’ he said when asked about his pre-match routines.
‘I try not to think too much before a game. Normally the night before a game, I play on my PlayStation and try and relax as much as I can.
‘I don’t do anything special. I like to score with myself on FC24, that’s about it. I don’t do anything special, I just try and relax and look forward to the game.’
Littler’s passion for FC24 has been well publicized after the teenager’s sensational rise to stardom at the World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace.
The 17-year-old’s stock has continued to rise as he hit a nine-darter at the Bahrain Masters and beat three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen in the final.
Away from the oche the Warrington-born youngster is as dedicated to the video-game as he is to darts.
Michael Smith snapped a picture of Littler opening Ultimate Team packs on the EAFC web app on his phone shortly before facing Duijvenbode in the Netherlands.
The 2023 World Champion then shared the photo on Instagram, jokingly captioning his post: ‘Trying play darts and this little [s*** emoji] playing FIFA.’