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Currently at Manchester City, there is a feeling that Erling Haaland will, at some point in time, leave the Cityzens for another club.

Who that could be is anyone’s guess, although Real Madrid have always been seen as his next step, and Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis recently brought up an interesting anecdote about the Norway international dating back to when he was playing for RB Salzburg.

Relayed by Corriere dello Sport, the 74-year-old was asked about the Manchester City player, who revealed he once tried to sign him.

He said: “Haaland was very close to Napoli. He was at Salzburg. I found out he was a very strong player, and I wanted to buy him. He cost €50m. My managers were worried, but then [Mino] Raiola took me into a room and asked me to avoid him: he already had the future mapped out for the player.”

Therefore, it appears that Raiola, who was the Manchester City star’s agent at the time prior to his death, had the next steps, with those being Borussia Dortmund and maybe even the Cityzens, all set up.

A move to Italy was seemingly never on the cards for the 23-year-old, who has become one of the best strikers in the world over time.

The Manchester City forward has a mind boggling scoring record to his name, having found the back of the net 86 times in 89 games for Dortmund and has continued this trend at the Etihad, scoring 79 goals in 83 appearances to date.