Norway defender Kristoffer Ajer said football's "biggest star" Erling Haaland has been unaffected by Manchester City being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules.
Haaland will play for the first time on Thursday since an independent panel's verdict released on Tuesday said that City arranged "sham" contracts with commercial partners to artificially inflate their commercial earnings, filed "misstated" accounts to conceal the true nature of their finances and "significantly" breached Premier League and UEFA spending limits.
- Man City vs. Premier League: 115 financial charges explained - Pep after City verdict: 'I am behind my club' - Does Man City's guilty verdict impact Guardiola's legacy?
The Premier League said sanctions will be decided in a separate hearing held by the independent commission, while City have continued to deny the charges and say they will appeal the verdict.
Wales will host Norway in a Nations League fixture at Cardiff City Stadium, when Haaland will be in the spotlight and seeking to add to his extraordinary international record of 65 goals in 57 games.
Norway's Erling Haaland is said to have been unimpacted by the news surrounding Manchester City. Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images "Ever since I met him brings lot of energy and joy to the group," Brentford center back Ajer said when asked about Haaland's demeanor in the Norway camp since City's guilty verdict was announced on Tuesday.
"That's the biggest compliment I always give, he hasn't changed a bit from the moment I met him, even though he's the the biggest star on the planet right now.
"He been exactly the same the last few days as well which is is not a surprise for me."
Reports of City's guilty verdict first surfaced in the media on Friday.
Haaland scored against Portugal in a 2-1 defeat two days later, after earlier scoring two versus Denmark to extend his record as the Nations League's all-time top scorer to 22.
Ajer said: "He's the best player in the world if you ask me, so hopefully he scores a few tomorrow as well.
"I have to admit that honestly I've read very little into it [the City situation]. We don't talk about it much here.
"Obviously, it was a statement released yesterday, so it's quite fresh and new. But we're just footballers, we don't know all the ins and outs and all the stuff that's being talked about in the media.