Premier League Feature: Former scout reveals why Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool missed out on signing Erling Haaland

John Vik, a former scout for Molde who has since moved on to scout for RB Salzburg, has said that several Premier League clubs were interested in signing Haaland before the Norwegian forward left in 2019. Erling Haaland was available to the clubs, but they passed because they saw him as "a target man."

The striker became one of Europe's most lethal attackers after moving on to Borussia Dortmund and landing at Manchester City during the summer transfer window.

After transferring to Manchester City for £51 million this summer, the 22-year-old has scored 13 goals in just eight games for the Etihad Stadium squad.

While Salzburg's 2019 Champions League debut garnered international attention, the 6'5" goalscorer has been catching the eye of elite scouts for some time.

Haaland scored the game-winning goal for City on Wednesday night against his former club Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. He did it by neatly heading home a cross from Joao Cancelo.

"Liverpool could have got him. Arsenal could have got him. Everyone was there to watch him but these clubs were seeing a No.9 who was tall and broad and, 'Oh, he's going to be a target man'. I couldn't for the life of me see why they had narrowed him down that way," Vik told The Athletic. 

Erling Haaland, the Norwegian cyborg, might have played for Manchester United before he moved to their rival team across a divided football city, which is unlikely to make Red Devils' fans feel any better.

"This was even before Erling had really started to play for Molde properly. Ole put the phone call in. So the name was put in. Then, how or whether United followed it up, I don't know," Vik spoke about the United move.

Not only did United pass up on recruiting a young Haaland because of his size, but so did several other Premier League clubs.

As one of the most feared strikers in the league, Vik said the clubs would be "kicking themselves" for passing on Haaland.

Other connections were made for Erling Haaland

Haaland signed with the Premier League champions in June after being linked to several of Europe's premier clubs, including Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich.

Haaland joined the Premier League champions after being persuaded by Pep Guardiola, despite interest from Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester United. With City's recent success, it's easy to say the teenager has thrived, and if he keeps up his current strike rate, he'll score over 100 goals this season.

After signing a five-year contract with Manchester City, the striker scored ten goals in his first six appearances in the English Premier League.

Haaland has made history by scoring on his Premier League and Champions League debuts for Manchester City.

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