Erling Haaland is back to his best and 'free' of his underlying injury concerns, Pep Guardiola says, and the striker does not need a rest any time soon for Manchester City.
15.10.2023 - 16:37 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Former Juventus supremo Giuseppe Marotta has reiterated that not signing Erling Haaland is one of his biggest regrets.
In 2017, the Manchester City ace was paving his way in the game at Norwegian outfit Molde. Football fans - and scouts alike - were only just becoming aware of a certain promising goal machine and Juventus invited Haaland to Turin to watch a game with full intentions of signing him for a fraction of his current valuation.
However, the Serie A giants planned on loaning him out - an offer Haaland swiftly rejected. Marotta, now chief executive at Inter Milan, rued the missed opportunity to sign Haaland when speaking in 2021.
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The 66-year-old left Juventus five years ago and claimed it would prove difficult to lure the Norwegian to Serie A now. "I have many regrets,” he said.
“The last one is Haaland, who could have joined Juventus for €2-3million. In such cases, you have to have the strength to go beyond your budget when they tell you that he is a talent to be signed.
"That's where the financial creativity of doing the operation comes in. Haaland is one of the best strikers in Europe now. Can he come to Italy now? Absolutely not.”
As it turned out, Haaland would develop into one of the most feared strikers in Europe. Red Bull Salzburg signed the then-18-year-old before Borussia Dortmund gave him his big Bundesliga break.
After bagging 86 goals in 89 games, Manchester City brought Haaland to the Premier League and clinched a historic treble in his debut season. Speaking to ilBianconero, ex-Juve chief Marotta doubled down on his Haaland regret - this
Erling Haaland is back to his best and 'free' of his underlying injury concerns, Pep Guardiola says, and the striker does not need a rest any time soon for Manchester City.
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