Revealed: Haaland nearly joined Juventus and why the transfer fell through

FT Desk

• 5 Nov 2022 16:32 GMT
• 3 min read

Erling Haaland could have been a Juventus player back in 2017, but the Old Lady's deal to sign the Norwegian goal-machine collapsed at the last minute.

Haaland was still in Norway with Molde at the time, and while he might not yet have been the striker who has plundered 22 goals in 16 games after swapping Borussia Dortmund for Manchester City for €60 million, his potential was still clear.

Haaland scored a slightly more modest 20 goals in 30 games with Molde, and Juve had been one of the first of the major European clubs to scout him early in the striker's season-and-a-half stay there before he left for Red Bull Salzburg in 2019.

READ: Erling Haaland at Man City: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23

Haaland had visited Juve's training facilities in 2017 and after taking in a game at Juventus Stadium - wearing Bianconeri attire - terms had been agreed on his transfer. But it fell through at the last minute, and now agent Vincenzo Morabito has revealed why.

"I was doing the operation of Haaland with Juventus; it was all done," he told Calcio Mercato. "The question that in my opinion influenced the failure was: 'Where does he go?' Primavera, he doesn't go to the first team. Then the cost was high and [former Juventus CEO Giuseppe] Marotta said 'no'."

A mistake in hindsight

Juventus were spoilt for choice for first-team strikers at the time with Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Mandzukic on their books, and they won the 34th of their record 36 Serie A titles that season, but Haaland was soon making a mockery of the idea that he needed to refine his craft at junior level.

READ: Juventus wages: How much does each player earn?

After that goal-haul with Molde, he moved to Salzburg for just €4m and duly scored 29 goals in 27 games for them. Borussia Dortmund beat Manchester United to his signature in 2020, paying €20m for his services, and after another 86 strikes in 89 appearances, there was no keeping him out of the clutches of the big-money Premier League clubs.

City ended up getting Haaland for a cut-price €60m due to a release clause in his Dortmund contract, and they can expect to get three times that should he move on again.