She made the first move. Erling Haaland — arguably the most feared striker on the planet right now — openly admitted that it was Isabel Haugseng Johansen who sent him the first message. "She was the one who checked me out. I wasn't the one who checked her out," he said on Norwegian broadcaster NRK in September 2025. For anyone who's watched Haaland bulldoze through Premier League defences without breaking a sweat, there's something quietly funny about that.
The two grew up in the same Norwegian town and both played for Bryne FK, though Haaland confesses he has no memory of crossing paths with her as a kid. Johansen, for her part, says she always noticed him — and believes it was "fate." They've been together since at least 2021.
A footballer dating a footballer
Johansen played for Bryne FK herself, focusing on pace over technique by her own admission — "I wasn't the best with dribbling and stuff. I was more with speed. I was running." She's no longer active, but the shared background clearly means something to Haaland.
"She played football. We met and all of that. It's nice because you understand football," he said in an October 2025 YouTube video the couple posted together. Having a partner who actually gets the lifestyle — the schedule, the pressure, the mental load — isn't something you can put a price on at the elite level.
Away from football, their downtime is refreshingly low-key. Haaland cooks. They play Minecraft together and build houses. Or they drive back to Bryne and order kebabs. For a man City fans are paying to watch score 30+ goals a season, that's a very normal life.
How fatherhood has sharpened him
In December 2024, Johansen and Haaland welcomed a son — their first child. Haaland's announcement was exactly what you'd expect from him: a photo on X holding a football over his stomach with a baby emoji in the caption. Subtle it was not.
What followed was more interesting. Speaking to the Associated Press in October 2025, Haaland credited his son directly for putting him in the best form of his career — not because of any motivational speech or renewed hunger, but because fatherhood forces him to switch off.
"When I go home, I relax even more," he said. "I don't think of football at all... I think I need to give a shout-out to my son."
For a striker whose output City's entire attacking structure is built around, that mental clarity matters. Anyone pricing up City for the title run-in or Champions League markets should factor in that Haaland isn't just physically sharp — by his own account, he's in the best headspace of his career.
Johansen was at Wembley in May 2026 when City beat Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. "Happy girlie 🩵 FA Cup winners! So proud 🏆," she posted. She's at the matches. She gets the game. Haaland seems to know exactly what he's got.
