The Salford restaurant was thrilled to receive a signed shirt from Manchester City ace Erling Haaland (Image: Vero Moderna/Instagram)

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland swung by a little Italian restaurant which has become a favourite among his fellow footballing stars. The restaurant said it was 'proud to have him in our family' as the City ace dropped by with a signed shirt.

Italian spot Vero Moderno lies in the Vimto Gardens complex on Chapel Street in Salford. Praised for its 'authentic' cuisine, it has fast become a regular haunt of almost the entire Manchester City squad.

The restaurant posts photos of the stars who regularly join them, most recently Haaland, holding up a signed shirt featuring a message to the Vero Moderno staff saying 'thank you' for the 'best food'. The restaurant shared the image on Instagram yesterday (Saturday) with the caption: "A BIG THANK YOU to our good friend Erling for the signed shirt!

"We are proud to have you in our family; a truly world-class gentleman and always a great pleasure to see you!"

Yesterday, the City side were playing at home at the Etihad against Chelsea, scoring a 1-1 draw with a goal from Rodri.

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Vero Moderno is known for its rustic Italian menu with a contemporary twist - and its warm welcome from Italian owner Beppe Piccoli and his team. Last year, the Manchester Evening News reported how word has rapidly spread among the Blues - with a succession of City's top players and coaching team heading to the Chapel Street eatery in recent months.

Players including Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte and Rodri have all been spotted there, as well as Haaland.

The restaurant is also a haunt of Man City chief Pep Guardiola who visited earlier this month, with Vero Moderna sharing a photo on it's Instagram saying: "Always a great honour to have the Man City boss drop by; doing our bit to keep his genius mind in tip top shape!

"World class manager and a world class guy."

But when followers have asked in the past what the players like to eat the owners reply: "We are sworn to secrecy".

But it's not only City stars flocking to the neighbourhood Italian - as a host of TV stars love it there too. Maxine Peake is a fan, and a host of TV stars and soap favourites from Coronation Street and Hollyoaks have dined there over the years.

The restaurant has been at Vimto Gardens on Chapel Street since 2017. Owner Beppe Piccoli, who is originally from Rome, said his inspiration for opening the restaurant was to bring an authentic taste of Italy to Salford.

Some things customers definitely shouldn't expect at the venue include Italian classics like spaghetti bolognaise, lasagne or carbonara though - as Vero Moderno has a policy of NOT serving those dishes. On the restaurant website it says: "There's nothing wrong with these classics, we love them too. But we wanted to offer a completely new approach to Italian dining, in a modern way, and true to our roots."

Man City stars Ruben Dias and Rodri pictured at Vero Moderno Italian restaurant in Salford with owner Beppe (Image: Vero Moderno)

Beppe says that the connection with City started after the team's Italian coaching and physio staff first gave it a try. The M.E.N. reported in July that Beppe said: "I think that's how it started as they have three Italians working in the medicine department and they were looking for good, authentic Italian food.

"Once they discovered us, word got out across the team and some of them have been coming here now ever since we opened on Chapel Street in 2017. Naturally they like their privacy and they know they will get that here."

Beppe adds: "They are all very good guys, and very kind and generous customers. They just want to be treated as normal customers and naturally we treat everyone in the same way here.

"We are a small independent business and we love to make people happy."

(Image: Vero Moderno)

Beppe had previously run restaurants in Manchester city centre, but when it came to opening his own Italian he chose Chapel Street in Salford to become more of a 'destination restaurant'. He says: "We are not too far away from the city centre, so people can still come to me, but we have people coming here who want to come here, rather than people simply walking in off the street.

"We don't do all the classics like carbonara, lasagne, we do something more modern. There's nothing wrong with the classics but I wanted to do things to step out of your comfort zone."

Beppe said: "It's very rewarding, we are very busy. We have other celebrities coming in all the time but the only trouble is I don't watch a lot of TV so I often don't know who they are until they've left and someone will say: 'did you see who that was?'"

"Everything we do here is to build friendships, not just for one meal."

Beppe, now in his 40s, left Rome 18 years ago to come to the UK to improve his English, but fell in love with the lifestyle and the culture in Manchester. His family remain in Italy, and he says: "Whenever I feel homesick it's only two-and-a-half hours on the plane."