Leaked Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard texts emerge from new scandal

Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland are part of a scandal centred around the Norway national team and have seen leaked private messages published in a new book

Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard are caught up in a scandal that has outraged the Norway national team after leaked private messages were published in a new book.

Norway may have Manchester City striker Haaland and Arsenal captain Odegaard in their ranks but the country has not reached a major tournament since Euro 2000. In a bid to succeed in the Nations League, a new book titled 'The Battle of the National Team' has alleged that there were deliberate attempts to mislead Norwegian health authorities after finding an 'ethically questionable loophole' during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A chapter named 'The Doctor's Lie' explained that Norway's plans were thrown into disarray after then-Galatasaray defender Omar Elabdellaoui tested positive for Covid-19 in November 2020. It is alleged that team doctor Asle B. Kjellsen allowed 19 Norwegian players, including Haaland and Odegaard, to travel to their match against Romania from overseas, rather than on the same flight from Oslo, after realising that Norway's laws did not apply to foreign athletes.

This would have meant former Real Madrid midfielder Odegaard travelling to the game from Madrid, while ex-Borussia Dortmund forward Haaland flying from Germany. However, there has been further uproar from within the Norway camp after the book included private messages between Haaland and Odegaard.

The leaked group chat messages between the City and Arsenal stars - which have since been shared in an excerpt by NRK - show Haaland sharing a screenshot of the Dagbladet homepage discussing the travel predicament. Odegaard replied to Haaland with a string of seven Santa emojis.

The unique preparation did not bode well for Norway in 2020, though, as they were trounced 3-0 by Romania before managing a draw with Austria. Addressing the allegations, Kjellsen told NRK: "Some may see me as a cynical doctor without morals after reading the book. I know that I was loyal to my patients, in this case the players of the national team."

The leaked messages have stirred up a storm within the Norwegian squad, with some players slamming the decision to make private conversations public. "It's clear that we don't want things like this to leak out," Genoa midfielder Morten Thorsby said. "I understand very well that people outside are interested in this, but it is something we should keep private, it is important that private messages between us remain in the group."

Meanwhile, Norway have made a positive start to their current Nations League campaign, topping the group after three games. Haaland was twice on target in a 3-0 win over Slovenia on Thursday and is preparing to face Austria on Sunday.

Odegaard has not joined up with the squad as he continues to recover from the ankle injury he picked up during the last international break. The Arsenal captain shared some insight in his programme notes ahead of the Gunners' win over Southampton last weekend.

"In the last week or so I've made really good progress," Odegaard said. "I'm getting better and better by the day and feel it's going well. When you feel like things are moving forward, it gives you motivation to do more and more and work harder.

"Hopefully, it won't be much longer. I think we will know more as soon as I get out on the training pitches and we see how my ankle responds to that. At the moment it's progressing well and it looks better than we were thinking, but we've still got to take every day as it comes."

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