Everton decided against a £2m move for Erling Haaland because it was not "the right move at the time", according to Duncan Ferguson.
Everton legend Ferguson is the latest club figure to shed light on the missed opportunity to sign the Norway striker, recalling the often-told tale of his visit to the academy as a teenager. Back then, Haaland was at his boyhood club Bryne but the Blues had been tipped off about the talent by Brian King - the club's talent-spotter in Scandinavia.
Despite watching him in action, Everton passed on the opportunity to sign him and he went on to become one of the world football's hottest talents, at Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund, before being snapped up by Manchester City in a big money move during the summer.
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Ferguson gave his perspective on the missed chance to sign Haaland in William Hill and Footy Accumulators’ new podcast, No Tippy Tappy Football. A guest on the show of former Everton boss Sam Allardyce, one of the hosts, Ferguson explained: "I mean my God, what a phenomenal player Erling Haaland is. He’s going to be incredible, isn’t he? But believe it or not, he was in at Everton. His dad had brought him in at Everton and they never signed him."
Ferguson, who left his role as assistant first-team manager with the Blues in the summer, added: "He was brought in at about 15 or 16 years of age and the team he was with at the time wanted a couple of million quid for him and Everton wouldn’t buy him. Everton didn’t think it was the right move for them at the time."
Ferguson is the latest club figure to discuss Haaland's visit to Merseyside. Ian Atkins, head of European recruitment at Everton between 2012 and 2016, shared his recollection with the ECHO last year. He said: "Brian King was really excited about this kid. He'd watched Haaland a lot and rated him really highly. He gets on to the club and manages to get him in for four days with the academy so that the coaches can have a look at him and see what they think.
"This is when Haaland is at Bryne, before the Molde move, so he's raw but he's got all these great attributes you don't often see in someone so young. He comes in for four days and the academy decided he wasn't good enough, something that Brian King didn't agree with. He thought there was a real talent in there but they didn't agree. He was one that got away for Everton, but you get that in football."
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