Haaland’s considerations before City move revealed

Manchester City host rivals Manchester United on Sunday, hoping to continue their fine start to the Premier League campaign. 

Pep Guardiola’s side currently sit second in the table, just a point behind leaders Arsenal, and they could move top if The Gunners fail to beat Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday and City win the Manchester derby.

All eyes will be on Erling Haaland on Sunday, as the Norwegian striker looks to continue his sensational early season form.

The 22-year-old has scored 11 goals in seven Premier League games so far this season, and he has previously spoken of his desire to play and score in the derby.

While Haaland has had a sizeable impact on the Premier League champions, it now appears that he may have joined one of their rivals instead.

As reported by The Star, the Norway international considered a move to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool prior to deciding on City as his next destination.

Haaland considered a move to Liverpool

The forward joined City from Borussia Dortmund over the summer for a reported fee of £54 million, but a number of clubs were said to be interested in the player at the time.

The report claims that the player, along with his father Alf-Inge Haaland, created a scoring system to determine which club he should join.

The criteria included clubs’ need for a number nine, club history, stadium capacity and manager, and the system was revealed on a recent documentary about the player, titled ‘Haaland: The Big Decision.’

While The Reds were in contention to land Haaland, it is claimed that Manchester United were never in the picture.

Speaking on the documentary, Haaland’s father revealed the order of clubs that came out close to the top.

“On our list, I think City is the best team,” he said.

“Bayern Munich is number two. We have Real Madrid as number three, Paris Saint-Germain as number four.”

The player’s move to The Etihad was finalised prior to the summer, meaning the likes of Liverpool and PSG had little chance of securing a deal.