Report: A Fellow Premier League Club Almost Signed Erling Haaland
Haaland #Haaland
Another Premier League club came close to signing Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, according to a report.
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There are very few, if any, players in better form in world football than Erling Haaland right now.
The Norwegian has had an outstanding start to his Manchester City career since his transfer from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, scoring 17 goals in just 11 games in all competitions.
Haaland continued his explosive start to the campaign in yesterday’s 6-3 battering of rivals Manchester United, in which he provided a remarkable five goal contributions after scoring a hat-trick and providing two assists for Phil Foden.
It’s hard to imagine a better fit for Haaland than City, with both the club and player mutually benefitting from the signing in a very clear way thus far. However, things could have been very different for both parties if the Norway international chose a different route a few years ago.
It has been revealed today by Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail that the forward was once close to signing for another Premier League club.
And that club, according to Keegan’s report, was Merseyside natives Everton. It is stated that The Toffees were interested in the youngster and were told by Haaland’s former club Molde that £5million would be enough to have acquired the services of the then 18-year-old striker.
However, it is reported that higher-ups at Goodison deemed the prospective fee to be ‘too much’ for a player who would be heading into the club’s under-23 side.
Haaland ended up going down a different route and given the respective trajectories of himself and Everton in the years following, it’s probably fair to say that he made the correct choice.
The Norway striker instead joined Austrian club RB Salzburg, a club famed for their youth development, and he would flourish at the club under current Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch.
In total, the forward would score 29 goals in 27 games for the Austrian Bundesliga club and quickly amassed swathes of interest from many of Europe’s elite sides.
However, instead of rushing to join one of the ‘biggest’ European clubs, Haaland would instead opt to join Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, another club with a reputation for fantastic youth development.
It was there where the 22-year-old would establish himself as one of the best players in world football. In his three seasons at Signal Iduna Park, Haaland went on to score 86 goals and provide 23 assists in 89 games while in Germany.
Understandably, the Norway man attracted even more attention after his spell with Die Borussen and essentially had the pick of any of Europe’s top clubs for his next move.
And thankfully for City fans, the striker chose to move to the Blue half of Manchester in a transfer that has been nothing short of a resounding success thus far.
The hitman is already on track to comfortably secure the Premier League golden boot this season and his side are firm favourites to win their third consecutive title, but everything could have been so very different if Everton chose to stump up that £5million four years ago.
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