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Everton Decided To Reject Teenage Erling Haaland After Four-Day Trial
Published
Everton once rejected the chance to sign Erling Haaland after he completed a four-day trial with the club as a teenager.
The Borussia Dortmund goal machine was a striker at Norwegian club Bryne back when he was invited by Everton to train with their academy.
However Ian Atkins (Everton's head of European recruitment until 2016) has explained to the Liverpool Echo why the club turned down the chance to sign Haaland, admitting: "He was one that got away for Everton."
It's safe to say turning down a striker who now has 18 goals in only 13 Champions League games at age 20 - and is worth well over £100 million - was, indeed, a bad decision.
But Atkins explains that the signs of his talent were there according to Brian King, the Toffees talent-spotter who tipped the club off to Haaland's potential over five years ago.
"Brian King was really excited about this kid," Atkins told the Liverpool Echo.
"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.
Erling Braut Haaland.
- Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 20, 2021
Erling Braut Haaland.
Erling Braut Haaland.
Erling Braut Haaland.
Erling Braut Haaland.
Erling Braut Haaland.
This guy. Jeez pic.twitter.com/zs9dvP0byV
"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.
"I think Haaland would have suited the English game, though."
It's safe to say that Haaland - a 6ft 4in colossus with remarkable technique and a hunger for goals - would indeed have been ideally suited to English football.
:flag_no: Erling Haaland = Champions League sensation :fire:
- UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 22, 2021
:soccer::one::eight: :shirt::one::three:@ErlingHaaland ' @BVB ' #UCL pic.twitter.com/aQs4Jr5Aqy
Instead of Everton, however, the teenage Haaland signed for Molde and played under current Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He scored 20 goals in 50 games there before a move to Red Bull Salzburg, where he became a star.
As Atkins says, every club has a 'one that got away'. Kylian Mbappe had a trial at Chelsea as a 13-year-old before joining Monaco's academy, while Roy Keane was rejected by Brighton as a teenager for being too small.
Erling Haaland ended his 6-minute goal drought in style. :sunglasses::zap: pic.twitter.com/P4Xol6ahC7
- Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 22, 2021
Haaland has ties to England, however, having been born in Leeds while his father Alf-Inge played for the club.
Safe to say Everton are probably wishing they offered that raw teenager a contract, back when he popped over from Norway for a trial.
All imagery: PA Images
Topics: Football, Erling Haaland, Everton
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