Manchester City ace Erling Haaland serving ice creams to stunned locals
- 10 months ago
An ice cream man was in Haa-La Land when Man City's superstar striker Erling hopped into his van to serve frozen treats to fans at the team's treble winning parade.
Haaland, 22, had his trio of title-winning medals around his neck when he got into Ejaz Azam’s truck and served frozen slush after the team's city centre knees up.
Ejaz was parked up when he was approached by the treble-winning City hero at 12.30am on Tuesday.
Haaland and his teammates had earlier turned Manchester blue with an open-top bus parade to celebrate their Istanbul triumph on Saturday night.
Ejaz said Haaland had first asked for a blue slush ice cream - costing £2.50 - before he requested to make it himself and then went on to serve up to 15 people.
The Norwegian, who was wearing gold pyjamas, was overheard on video praising the ice cream and thanking the Ejaz after making one of the sweet treats for himself.
Ejaz said: “He came in and he served ice cream and slush to 10 to 15 people, and then he made his own ice cream with slush on top of it and he said my ice cream was ‘unbelievable’.
“He came to me about 12.30, I didn’t see him at first so I said ‘No, no I’m closed, I’m not serving anymore’. There was somebody else with him and he went ‘Are you not serving Haaland, City player?
“He went ‘No, it’s OK if you’re closed, don’t worry’, but I said ‘No I’m open for you, don’t worry man’.
“I opened the serving window for him, and he asked me for slush, and then he goes ‘You know what, let me come in’.”
“I said, ‘You’re most welcome, come in’ and he started serving customers, and then he made his own slush with ice cream on top.”
Ejaz, who owns the ice cream business Mr whippy ice cream van hire Oldham, Gtr Manchester, said he was booked to work outside Depot Mayfield until 11pm.
But due to high demand, he’d stuck around until the early morning, when Haaland turned up several hours after his rain-soaked victory parade.
Ejaz added: “I was booked until 11 pm, but there were loads of people, so I wasn’t able to get out, so they made me stop on the spot where I was.
“I was not expecting him to come to me and have ice cream.
“From the City players, I only knew him, only one person I knew. He’s a good, good player, and when he came to me I was closed.
He added: “I was really happy, to be honest, my God. Really, really. I got appreciated, I got big respect yesterday (Tuesday).”
On his ice cream round the following day, Ejaz received much more attention than usual after he shared a picture of him and the player on social media.
He said: “Normally I finish at 8pm, but yesterday I finished at 10pm, because every single customer wanted to speak to me, everyone wanted to come to me and say hello.
“People who never have ice cream came to see me, I got new customers yesterday who came to see me and say hello.
"I wasn’t expecting all of this to be honest with you.”
Haaland netted 52 goals in the CIty's historic season, including a record 36 in the Premier League.
Haaland, 22, had his trio of title-winning medals around his neck when he got into Ejaz Azam’s truck and served frozen slush after the team's city centre knees up.
Ejaz was parked up when he was approached by the treble-winning City hero at 12.30am on Tuesday.
Haaland and his teammates had earlier turned Manchester blue with an open-top bus parade to celebrate their Istanbul triumph on Saturday night.
Ejaz said Haaland had first asked for a blue slush ice cream - costing £2.50 - before he requested to make it himself and then went on to serve up to 15 people.
The Norwegian, who was wearing gold pyjamas, was overheard on video praising the ice cream and thanking the Ejaz after making one of the sweet treats for himself.
Ejaz said: “He came in and he served ice cream and slush to 10 to 15 people, and then he made his own ice cream with slush on top of it and he said my ice cream was ‘unbelievable’.
“He came to me about 12.30, I didn’t see him at first so I said ‘No, no I’m closed, I’m not serving anymore’. There was somebody else with him and he went ‘Are you not serving Haaland, City player?
“He went ‘No, it’s OK if you’re closed, don’t worry’, but I said ‘No I’m open for you, don’t worry man’.
“I opened the serving window for him, and he asked me for slush, and then he goes ‘You know what, let me come in’.”
“I said, ‘You’re most welcome, come in’ and he started serving customers, and then he made his own slush with ice cream on top.”
Ejaz, who owns the ice cream business Mr whippy ice cream van hire Oldham, Gtr Manchester, said he was booked to work outside Depot Mayfield until 11pm.
But due to high demand, he’d stuck around until the early morning, when Haaland turned up several hours after his rain-soaked victory parade.
Ejaz added: “I was booked until 11 pm, but there were loads of people, so I wasn’t able to get out, so they made me stop on the spot where I was.
“I was not expecting him to come to me and have ice cream.
“From the City players, I only knew him, only one person I knew. He’s a good, good player, and when he came to me I was closed.
He added: “I was really happy, to be honest, my God. Really, really. I got appreciated, I got big respect yesterday (Tuesday).”
On his ice cream round the following day, Ejaz received much more attention than usual after he shared a picture of him and the player on social media.
He said: “Normally I finish at 8pm, but yesterday I finished at 10pm, because every single customer wanted to speak to me, everyone wanted to come to me and say hello.
“People who never have ice cream came to see me, I got new customers yesterday who came to see me and say hello.
"I wasn’t expecting all of this to be honest with you.”
Haaland netted 52 goals in the CIty's historic season, including a record 36 in the Premier League.