Alfie Haaland has revealed that Liverpool were one of seven clubs in the running to sign his son, Erling, from Borussia Dortmund.
Haaland joined Manchester City in the summer from Dortmund in a deal worth £51m. The Etihad club paid the 22-year-old's release clause and expect to pay £85.5m in total when agent fees, signing bonus and other costs are taken into account.
The forward has made a stunning start to his City career following his move to Manchester. The Norwegian was named Premier League Player of the Month for August after scoring nine times in the opening month of the season.
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And his dad has now explained the process that led to Haaland signing for City in the summer. The pair devised a points system based on criteria, such as whether the club needed to buy a No 9, their playing style, their history and stadium capacity.
The rankings were updated regularly last season and although Liverpool were in the running in February, they didn’t end up making the top four in the final standings.
“On our list, I think City is the best team,” Alfie told The Big Decision Haaland documentary, which aired this month on Viaplay last month.
“[Bayern] Munich is number two. We have Real Madrid as number three, Paris Saint-Germain as number four.
“We also have some English teams other than City who are quite good . . . Liverpool and Chelsea. Also, there is Barcelona. They are sort of in the same row.”
Before Alfie continued, saying: “I think it was one point separating the top two with the last calculations.
“One of the criteria is about whether the club needs a No 9. City is ten [out of ten] in that respect. Bayern Munich gets one point for that, they don’t need a No 9.
“They have their best player as a No 9, but if he [Lewandowski] goes, then they have no one else. It would have been quite controversial to go to Munich but when we go through it, it’s one of the best teams. Real Madrid are a five or six [out of ten]. They have [Karim] Benzema, and will they get Mbappe?”
Haaland, who has scored 14 goals in his first nine games for City, also reveals in the documentary that the manager of his next club was not the biggest factor when choosing his next destination after Dortmund.
He said: “I have never transferred to a club because of the manager, but it is a big plus with [Pep] Guardiola at City, he is the best manager in the world.”
He then added on his move to City, saying: “When I was a young boy, like everyone, I dreamt about becoming the best footballer in the world and making a living off it.
“Now I do. I think money is important for everyone in this world. To make the most money, that is not the main focus, but you would like to make as much as possible.
“If you can get 5,000 Norwegian krone (about £420) to do a job or 10,000 to do the same job, you take the 10,000. Everyone would do that. I have dreamt about playing football and to live on that for the rest of my life.”
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