Erling Haaland’s father reveals reason his son picked Man City over Real Madrid

Erling Haaland’s dad Alf-Inge has explained why his son decided to move to Manchester City over Real Madrid this summer.

The Norwegian striker was one of the most sought-after players in the market this past summer. From Barcelona to Chelsea to Manchester United to PSG, every big club across Europe were keen on landing the Norwegian international.

Even Real Madrid were drawn into the transfer battle for the ace striker. But, the 22-year-old opted to snub the reigning champions of Spain and Europe, as well as the other interested parties in order to secure a move to Premier League champions Manchester City.

Not only is are City the club he grew up supporting – his father Alf-Inge Haaland played for the club between 2000 and 2003 – it was also the best option at the time.

The 22-year-old has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water so far, having scored 10 goals in just six league appearances for the Blues, that includes two stunning hat-tricks.

Despite the obvious links to City, as mentioned earlier, Haaland was faced with a tough decision in the summer as he had a host of top clubs chasing after him.

In a new documentary, his father and former Manchester City star Alf-Inge Haaland explained why his son decided to move to the Etihad.

Speaking on ViaPlay’s ‘Haaland: The Choice’, Alf-Inge Haaland points to the presence of Karim Benzema and Real Madrid’s pursuit of Kylian Mbappe as the reason behind his son not joining forces with Los Blancos.

“We had established a first criterion which was: ‘who needs a No. 9?’ Manchester City had 10/10 at this level, it was the perfect option,” he said.

“Real, we gave him more of a 5 or a 6 out of 10 because there is the way Karim Benzema currently plays. And we wondered if they were also going to sign Mbappe,” he further added.

Real Madrid not only missed out on Haaland, but they even failed to bring in Mbappe as well, as he performed a last-minute swerve and signed a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain.