Norway youngster goes viral with 'dream' Leeds United remark in off-the-cuff pitchside moment

The teenager, who currently represents Aalesund in Norway’s top flight, made the revelation in a television interview as part of NRK’s coverage of this summer’s Under-19 Euros in Malta.

Norway are on course to qualify for the knockout stage of the eight-team competition, along with Portugal, Italy and Spain this year, skippered by self-professed Leeds fan Hopland.

"My dream is to play for Leeds [United],” the 18-year-old centre-back admitted whilst pitchside earlier in the tournament, subsequently going viral on social media site Twitter after a quote and accompanying clip was shared by a Scandinavian Leeds supporter.

Hopland claimed two assists in Norway’s thrilling opener against Greece, which saw the Nordic country surge into a 5-0 lead at half-time, before being pegged back to 5-4.

Hopland also captained his country to a 1-1 draw with Iceland in their second group stage fixture.

Three Lions pair Sonny Perkins and Darko Gyabi narrowly missed out on qualification for this summer’s finals, which were won by England 12 months ago.

Instead, both will fly over to Norway this week with the first-team squad where Leeds take on Manchester United in a friendly fixture at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion as their pre-season calendar gets underway.

Leeds’ influence in Scandinavia dates back to the heady days of Don Revie’s title-winning sides of the 1960s and 1970s. To this day, the Northern European countries represent one of the largest foreign Leeds United-supporting diasporas across the world, while several players from Norway in particular have pulled on the white shirt at Elland Road.

Currently, Leeds have two Norwegians in their squad: Norway Under-21 internationals Kristoffer Klaesson and Leo Hjelde.