ERLING HAALAND left fans baffled after playing around with Manchester City coach Simon Bitcon.

The City squad is in Athens, Greece preparing for their Super Cup clash with Sevilla.

Erling Haaland put coach Simon Bitcon in a chokehold

The pair playfully squared up to each other

Haaland pushed the coach and punched him lightly on the arm

Strength and conditioning coach Bitcon was running a fitness drill for the players when he was targeted by Haaland for a bit of playfighting.

The international player from Norway approached Bitcon and choked him before releasing him and pushing him away.

Haaland, 23, also gave the head coach a quick hit to the arm, which prompted Bitcon to playfully confront the striker.

The two then contrasted their punching ranges, which caused them to giggle uncontrollably because Haaland came out well ahead.

Fans were puzzled by the interaction with many joking Haaland was “bullying” Bitcon.

One supporter said: “He bullied the coach 😂”

A second wrote: “Next job is MMA 🥊😅”

And another commented: “Why he looks so afraid😂”

Haaland got his season off to a flyer with two goals in the opening game of the season at Burnley.

It took the goal machine just three minutes to find the net in the 3-0 win and he will be aiming to produce more of the same against Sevilla.