The Norwegian striker targeted by Milan is a son of art, inspired by Drogba
Alexander Sorloth is Milan’s transfer target, constantly looking for a striker. The Norwegian from Atletico Madrid would be at the top of the Rossoneri’s preference list. Here are ten things you didn’t know about him.
son of art
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Alexander Sorloth is not the first footballer in the family. His father Goran, also a first striker, boasts a long and prolific career in Norway where he won five championships with Rosenborg, as well as two short spells in Germany and Turkey. In the national team, Alexander has already surpassed his father: 26 goals against Goran’s 15. But his father’s influence was decisive in his career: “He was fundamental for me”, Alexander said in an interview a few years ago, “he transmitted to me the love for the game and the way in which I see and conceive football”.
the perfect debut
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Sorloth’s career as a striker began on the day of his debut among the professionals, at 17 years old, on 11 July 2013. Rosenborg was 5-1 up in the second leg of the Europa League preliminaries against the Northern Irish Crusaders, and in the half-hour of the second half Age Hareide sent the boy onto the field: a few minutes later, Sorloth had already put the ball in the back of the net for the first (definitely not the last) time in his career. Rosenborg wins 7-2 and the next day Sorloth signs his first professional contract: the perfect week.
handball and skating
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Now there’s only football, but as a kid Sorloth divided his time between the green rectangle, the handball field and the frozen speed skating rink. “I did skating until I was 13 and handball until I was 16, I even trained three times a day – said the Norwegian in an interview – I think it helped me in my development as an athlete”. Then the choice to focus only on football. Luckily: 195 centimeters and over 90 kg would have been uncomfortable to carry around on skates.
the role of the bodo
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At the roots of Sorloth’s growth as a player, there is the Norwegian club that everyone has come to know this year. Still far from today’s glories, in 2015 Bodo Glimt came from a championship that ended in fourth-last place and the sale of the best scorer, Ibba Laajab, to the Chinese side Hebei. Arriving on loan from Rosenborg, Sorloth struggled to get on. Then, the turning point. The Norwegian finds his place at the center of the attack and never looks back: 13 goals and 5 assists, while Bodo achieves a quiet safety. And for Sorloth, it is the true beginning of the journey.
haaland and that nickname
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Two Norwegian forwards, same height, similar size. When it comes to Sorloth, the immediate comparison with Haaland is inevitable, five years younger and with a career destined to overshadow the excellent one of his compatriot. Together, the two form the record attack tandem that dominated the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, at Italy’s expense. Curiously, it was Haaland who popularized Sorloth’s first nickname, commenting on a post by the forward when he was still at Trabzonspor: “King of the North”. Now the two hope to make their way across the pond this summer.
globetrotter, but turkey…
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Globetrotter, but Turkey… Among European bombers, perhaps no one has toured the continent more than Sorloth. Thirty years, 11 teams and 8 countries, from the Norwegian cold to the heat of Madrid. In the middle Holland, Denmark, Belgium, England, Türkiye and Germany. Perhaps he left a piece of his heart on the shores of the Black Sea during his two seasons at Trabzonspor where he was also the league’s top scorer. “Nothing compares to the atmosphere of the matches in Turkey – Sorloth recalled in an interview – It was the most incredible experience of my career. In every match the atmosphere was crazy, and the matches against Fenerbahçe and Besiktas are among the best memories I have on a football pitch”.
the fastest trio
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In the Spanish championship, Sorloth boasts a record: he scored the fastest hat-trick ever, in the match against Real Sociedad (his former club) on 10 May 2025, wearing the Atletico Madrid shirt. The first goal came in the 7th minute, a left-footed shot assisted by Barrios, then he scored on the counterattack in the 10th minute, and again a minute later: three goals in the first eleven minutes, a record. Sorloth will also score the fourth goal in the 30th minute of the first half, just to make sure they don’t miss anything. That year, his first at Atletico, he scored 20 league goals.
chef
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When he’s not on the field, Sorloth spends a lot of time in the kitchen. He revealed it in an episode of the “Sab0.0r Rojiblanco” format, on Atletico’s official channels, in which he cooked a typical Uruguayan dish together with his partner Gimenez. Sorloth showed he knows what he’s doing behind the stove, as well as in the penalty area. The specialty? Like a good Norwegian, it’s moose, served with potatoes and vegetables.
hitman
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Sorloth’s other specialty is goals, and Cholo Simeone found him a new nickname as soon as he arrived at Atletico. Sorloth himself revealed it: “In our first meeting, Simeone told me he has a new nickname for me. He calls me ‘Sicario’. He says I have to be a hitman for the whole season, focus only on putting the ball in the back of the net. I will try to live up to the nickname.” After 41 goals in two years, often starting from the bench, he may have succeeded.
the drogba idol
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Like all kids who grew up on bread and ball, Sorloth also has a football idol: his is Didier Drogba. “I was a Chelsea fan as a child and he was my favourite,” Sorloth said in an interview last year: “I loved the physicality with which he played.” And in February, after the hat-trick against Club Brugge in the Champions League playoffs, he spoke like this about the goal with which he broke the deadlock in the match, defending the ball from a clearance from Oblak and piercing Mignolet with his left foot: “It was a Drogba-like goal, he scored many like that: he is my idol, this made the goal even more special.”
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