Erling Haaland scored the winning goal for Manchester City in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund, but Jack Gaughan of the Daily Mail revealed how they tried and failed to sign him in 2021.
The 22-year-old was initially earmarked to replace Sergio Aguero, having been on their shortlist for many years, but Gaughan revealed that Dortmund weren’t willing to let him go.
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City had a ‘dossier’ on Haaland from his time at Bryne. He made his debut for the OBOS-ligaen outfit at the age of 16 and would go on to make 16 appearances before Molde FK headhunted him in February 2017.
Haaland was still early in his development at the time, but City returned for him when Aguero left at the end of his contract last year. The 22-year-old was in his first full season at Dortmund and had scored 41 goals with 12 assists from 41 games across the board, so City ‘were told to forget it’.
But in January 2022, the Norwegian international with 20 goals from 21 caps revealed he was being pressured by Dortmund to make a decision on his future. News of Haaland’s release clause was made public and City were the only club to make a serious offer, so a deal was agreed.
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