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Claim: A TikTok user claims Haaland apologised to Arteta following a Premier League clash on Feb. 2, 2025, for a previous derogatory utterance.
Verdict: False. Careful analysis shows that the TikTok video clip is a digitally edited version of a Sky Sports post-match interview with Haaland, in which he responded to questions surrounding the football tactics adopted in City’s clash with Chelsea in January.
Full Text
Last summer, Sky Sports posted Manchester City’s forward and talisman Erling Haaland’s brief but infamous spat with Arsenal’s boss, Mikel Arteta, after the former had told him to “stay humble eh” at the end of a 2-2 match stalemate in September 2024.
However, in a stunning 5-1 victory over City on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, Arsenal fans ridiculed the Norway international to the extent of playing American rapper Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” at the Emirates Stadium. Haaland, who had scored City’s only goal that Sunday evening, also tried to take something out of it by flashing a gold Premier League badge printed on his City shirt— Arsenal has not won an English title since 2004.
Amidst these developments, a TikTok user, Dangerous AI, shared a video clip showing Haaland apologising to Arteta during an interview.
“Mike Arteta, I apologise to you and your team. I will stay humble from now on. I really will. Please forgive me (and) you didn’t have to humble me this hard. This was the most embarrassing defeat of my career, and I am ashamed that it had to be against Arteta and Arsenal,” the City forward allegedly said.
Part of the video clip also recorded Haaland allegedly pleading with the Arsenal boss to take him in and give him playing time at the Emirates Stadium despite the Norway international recently penning a nine-and-a-half contract extension with Man City.
“I want to join Arsenal. I know they need a number nine. Please, Arteta, I want to join your team,” he allegedly told the interview correspondent.
The TikTok post has attracted over 271,000 likes and 5,000 comments and has been shared 96,000 times as of Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.
DUBAWA noticed that while some TikTok users strongly perceived the video clip as manipulated, others believed its authenticity and mocked the Norwegian.
“Thanks for using AI,” @isac remarked.
“AI is getting scary,” WhoisMaird commented.
“Arteta really cooked,” YES ME, another user opined lightheartedly.
“Oya Arsenal make una sign am. He don beg,” Larry commented, meaning Arsenal should sign him (Haaland) since he has pleaded.
DUBAWA decided to verify the claim, seeing the contrasting perceptions about the clip’s authenticity and sensitivity.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a keyword search on Haaland’s recent post-match interviews, and we found a Sky Sports interview shared on YouTube that is similar to the TikTok video clip.
We first noticed the headphones the City forward had on as he responded to questions posed by Sky Sports studio anchor were not different from the ones on him in the TikTok video.
We studied his body language, gesticulation, and facial expressions. Haaland’s shoulders were noticeably raised intermittently, and he confidently gave his opinions to questions asked. He raised his hand once for emphasis and punctuated his reactions with a casual smile— all of which were replicated or exactly shown in the TikTok video.
DUBAWA also noticed a digital dynamic feature of the TikTok video clip from its original version found on YouTube. Haaland’s right head side view is visible as he converses in the interview in the original video. But DUBAWA observed that contrary to that conspicuous characteristic, his left head side view, or his right head side view, flipped to the left using the flip tool provided on video or photo editing software. Furthermore, we noticed that all the brand logos and inscriptions imprinted on the interview room’s background wall were either inversely displayed or spelt backwards, including the “Sky Sports” on the microphone used to interview the Norwegian.
More so, the original version of the TikTok video, which was shared on Jan. 25, 2025, only highlights questions posed to Haaland about the playing technicalities adopted in their 3-1 comeback win against Chelsea on that day.
“Thank you so much. Uhm, I think we started really really bad. We all know we kept going and uhm, I think we controlled a lot of the game and great team performance,” Haaland responded to the question about his team’s performance in Chelsea’s match encounter.
Furthermore, in the original version of the TikTok video clip, the City forward’s alleged plea to move to Emirates Stadium from Man City was never discussed.
Although we subjected deepware, it failed to detect any manipulation influenced by artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, Hive Moderation could not accommodate the video due to its 59-second length, which is beyond the application’s video length acceptance of 20 seconds.
Finally, no reputable news outlet reported Haaland’s alleged apology to Arteta or his plea to join Arsenal football club.
Conclusion
The claim is false. Careful analysis shows that the TikTok video clip has been digitally manipulated.
