Arsenal's former scout Brian McDermott claims the club was never close to securing Erlng Haaland.
The Norway international is now a global superstar with Manchester City.
However, he was already attracting the interest of big clubs in 2018, when he was coming through for Molde in Norway.
John Vik, Molde's former chief scout, told The Athletic that “Liverpool could have got him. Arsenal could have got him".
“People can say such-and-such a club could have had him, but a lot of it is pie in the sky," McDermott told The Athletic in response.
“I watched Haaland three times and I was, like, 'Blimey, who is this kid?'. I met his dad and we had really good conversations, but I felt they knew the path they wanted for him.
“You can go to a massive club at that age and you can get lost. I'm not saying he would have done, because he was outstanding, but I just sensed he and his dad wanted to do it differently. It was already written.
“He went to Salzburg and, yes, I get that. Borussia Dortmund, yes, I get that. From there you can go to Manchester City, Real Madrid, wherever. They had it worked out."
