“Everton didn’t think it was the right move” – Duncan Ferguson reveals Toffees passed up opportunity to sign Erling Haaland
Everton passed up the opportunity to sign Erling Haaland for a “couple of million quid” when he was playing in Norway, according to former coach Duncan Ferguson.
Haaland has been tearing the Premier League apart this season since joining Manchester City, opting to sign for Pep Guardiola’s side before the summer transfer window even opened, when most of Europe’s biggest clubs were chasing his signature. The Norwegian had arrived with a stunning record at former club Borussia Dortmund, netting 86 goals in 89 games across all competitions.
Erling Haaland news: Could he have signed for Everton?
- Former Everton coach Duncan Ferguson has revealed the Toffees had the opportunity to sign Erling Haaland when he was 15 but passed it up.
- Ferguson says that Everton didn’t think it was the right move with then-club Bryne wanting “a couple of million quid” (click here for full quotes).
- Erling Haaland has scored 17 goals in 11 Premier League games so far this season, six more than Everton.
- Erling Haaland is already as low as 4/9 with Sky Bet to win the PFA Player of the Year for 22/23
When Haaland first arrived there were some questioning his quality, noting the so-called “Bundesliga tax”, having seen other exports from the German league struggle to adapt to their new teams – most recently Timo Werner at Chelsea. But Haaland has quickly quietened his doubters with 17 goals in 11 games in the Premier League and a further five in four in the Champions League.
Haaland has already broken a number of Premier League records including those for best goalscoring starts and he is being tipped to break a lot more before the season is up, including most goals in a single campaign. However, it appears he could have been in the Premier League a lot sooner, had Everton taken a risk when Ferguson was on the backroom staff at Goodison Park.
“I mean my God, what a phenomenal player Erling Haaland is,” Ferguson told William Hill and Footy Accumulators‘ No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.
“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!
“He was brought in at about 15 or 16 years of age and the team he was with at the time [Bryne] 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…”
Man City and Everton weren’t the only Premier League teams to have made a move for Haaland either, with former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer previously enquiring having worked with his compatriot at Molde.
“Ole worked with Haaland at Molde, so he rang him up, met him and tried to get him to come to Manchester United when he was manager there,” Sam Allardyce added.
“But it didn’t happen and then Haaland went to Germany to join Borussia Dortmund [from Red Bull Salzburg]. I don’t know whether that was financial, or whatever it might be, but I think that, personally, if Ole had got him to join Manchester United then he would still be the manager there today.”
There’s no way of telling what would have happened had Haaland joined Everton before he moved from Bryne to Molde, then onto Red Bull Salzburg, but the Toffees could certainly do with him this season (let’s be honest, who would say no). With 17 goals in the Premier League, Haaland has scored six more goals than the entire Everton squad combined despite taking 46 fewer shots.
Focusing on the recognised strikers at Everton alone, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Neal Maupay and Salomon Rondon have combined to score two Premier League goals this season, though it must be noted that the Toffees have struggled with injuries up front. Per 90 minutes, Haaland has averaged 4.57 shots in the Premier League this season, with Rondon taking the most of the aforementioned Everton strikers at 3.46. However, the Venezuelan has hit the target just 0.87 times per 90 to Haaland’s 2.63. Things aren’t any better for Maupay (0.6 shots on target per 90) or Calvert-Lewin (0.32) either.
