Less than twenty-four hours earlier, he had scored a hat-trick in the Manchester derby. He had lifted the match ball in front of the Etihad. He had been hugged by Guardiola, congratulated by Ferran Soriano, praised on every football programme in England, and turned into the headline of an entire Premier League weekend.
Now he had to get up for school.
Before forcing himself out of bed, he opened Instagram.
The first thing that greeted him was the post he had made before sleeping the previous night. It was a picture taken just after his first goal, when he had stood in front of the South Stand with his left hand across his stomach and his right arm stretched outward, bowing toward the crowd while the supporters behind him rose in a blur of sky blue.
The caption was simple.
This city is blue.
Lukas blinked at the numbers.
1.7 million likes.
More than 100,000 comments.
For a moment, he just stared at it.
Then he began scrolling.
erling.haaland: Not normal 😂🔥
