The summer of 2022 was said to be the period when Real Madrid would sign Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. Ironically, Los Blancos came out of it with nothing. The Frenchman opted to stay at Paris Saint-Germain and signed what was at the time the richest deal in soccer history.
On the other hand, after it became clear that the Norwegian superstar was leaving Borussia Dortmund in the summer, several teams from all over Europe made offers to sign the striker. Despite his father's comments that Erling would want to play in each of the big leagues, the striker ultimately decided to sign with Manchester City after weeks of speculation.
The fact that the 2021-22 La Liga winners weren't even Alf-Inge Haaland's first or second option when he made that announcement last summer reportedly upset the Spanish club. "On our list, I think City is the best team, [Bayern] Munich is number two, We have Real Madrid as number three", he told The Times.
How did Erling Haaland end up picking Manchester City over Real Madrid?
Rafaela Pimienta, the player's agent, recently gave an interview to Diario AS in which she discussed the two primary reasons she believes Haaland chose to sign with Manchester City rather than Spanish La Liga powerhouse Madrid.
“He came from a football family you know. His dad, he already played there you know, so he grew up around that and you see the photos of him as an infant with the shirt of Manchester City. So I think it was a personal thing, and then I think he also wanted to experience the Premier League too.”
