According to the latest report from The Mail, Haaland and Pretty Little Thing (PLT) founder Umar Kamani are very close friends.

After the World Cup, Haaland and Kamani vacationed together on a yacht in the French Riviera. This isn't their first luxurious trip – they have previously visited Monaco and Saint-Tropez together and also partied in Dubai. Additionally, the Daily Mail can reveal that a close friend of Kamani facilitated Haaland's recent viral meeting with Michael Jordan.

This underscores Haaland's rising status in celebrity circles. After a demanding season, such gatherings provide well-deserved relaxation.

Kamani watched Norway defeat Brazil in the World Cup Round of 16 with Haaland's family, a match in which the striker scored two goals. The two embarked on this trip together shortly after Norway was eliminated by England.

Their friendship dates back to 2022, when Haaland joined Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund for £51 million. That was a significant moment for the young striker – his father, Alf-Inge, had played for the club, and the Leeds-born Haaland stated he had been a Manchester City fan since childhood.

Kamani himself is also a Manchester City fan and is on good terms with some players on the team, who introduced the two. Sources say they hit it off immediately and have remained close ever since. Their shared love of football, luxury watches, and adventure further strengthened their bond.

By winter 2022, five months after they met, Haaland and Kamani were close enough that the fashion entrepreneur invited Haaland to his luxurious Dubai home.

It was during the Qatar World Cup, for which Norway failed to qualify, meaning Haaland could not participate. The Manchester City star took a mid-season break and visited Kamani with sports therapist Mario Pafundi; to this day, Pafundi remains one of Haaland's closest allies.

In the summer of 2023, Haaland and his father boarded a luxury superyacht with Kamani, which carried several celebrities, including Tommy Hilfiger – yes, the founder of the brand bearing his name. During that trip, Haaland also casually had lunch with Prince Albert II of Monaco.

To welcome 2024, Haaland and his girlfriend attended a private party hosted by Kamani in Dubai. Anthony Joshua and Derek Chisora were also present. Fortunately, no fights broke out. Kamani wore a pink suit that day and a giant mascot head, appearing to be impersonating himself.

Haaland has also visited Kamani Club, a private gym owned by the businessman in Dubai. The two took ice baths side by side, smiled for photos, and trained with athletes from various sports including boxing and tennis.

As far as is known, Haaland did not attend Kamani's £20 million, four-day wedding in 2024. Kamani and his wife Nada received a £1.45 million engagement ring in August 2021 and subsequently tied the knot in two lavish ceremonies in the South of France.

But in many ways, it's not surprising that Haaland and Kamani became friends, as they share many similarities. Haaland is a workaholic, maintaining his condition by spending long hours in the gym, eating large roasted steaks, and drinking raw milk and raw honey. To stay at his peak, he takes five ice baths a week; no method is too unconventional, and no sacrifice is too great.

Kamani has the same drive. At 38, he runs a global business empire, but at heart, he's still a Manchester lad.

He grew up in Chorlton, southwest Manchester, in a family of eighteen. His grandfather, Abdullah, fled war-torn Kenya in the 1960s and, upon arriving in northwest England, made a living selling handbags at a market stall.

Kamani was born for the fashion industry. His father, Mahmud, co-founded Boohoo with Carol Kane in 2006. The young Umar was similarly influenced and started PLT in 2012 with his brother Adam.

"There's no way I couldn't be in fashion. I was born into fashion. It's like, what else can you do if you can't breathe?" he once told Drapers.

Pretty Little Thing completely revolutionized the fashion retail industry – young people could suddenly purchase inexpensive clothes similar in style to those worn by celebrity idols.

The design team would monitor celebrity social media and, within days, could launch cheap imitations for ordinary consumers to purchase. The cheapest items once cost as little as 6 pence.

However, not everything went smoothly. The brand was accused of encouraging disposable consumer culture – which is detrimental to the environment – and impacting physical retail stores with promotions offering up to 99% discounts.

On a darker note, the parent company Boohoo, owned by the Kamani family, was accused in 2020 of paying employees as little as £3.50 per hour and forcing them to continue working in poor conditions even after some tested positive for COVID-19.

At a factory in Leicester, the so-called "sweatshop" scandal prompted an investigation by the UK's National Crime Agency. The revelations caused the company's share price to plummet. Kamani stepped down as PLT CEO in 2023 but returned to the company in September 2024.

Earlier this year, Boohoo, in which Kamani holds a minority stake, faced new legal claims worth £10 million, with investors accusing his father, Mahmud, of knowing about the "sweatshop" conditions that led to a 42% plunge in share price. Mahmud stated in 2020 that it was "impossible for him to know everything within the business."

Regardless of the outcome, one thing is certain: the camaraderie between Umar Kamani and Haaland allows them to relax from their high-pressure jobs during their several social gatherings each year and has also provided them with opportunities and connections they could never have imagined before.

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