Leeds-born Erling Haaland slipped through England’s net, but Gareth Southgate is certain there was little The Football Association could have done.
The 19-year-old was born in the city at the end of father Alf-Inge Haaland’s time with the Whites during the 2000 summer he switched to Manchester City.
Few could have predicted how good the striker would become. Haaland really emerged on the scene in July 2018 when he scored four goals in 17 minutes against Norway’s best team.
Aged just 17, the stories began to circulate about Europe’s best clubs sending scouts to watch him in Eliteserien with Molde.
Haaland has not looked back since. In May 2019, he scored nine In Norway’s 12-0 win over Honduras in the under-20 World Cup.
Since then, his achievements with Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund have been more widely documented.
England boss Southgate has finally spoken on the record about the West Yorkshire native and what might have been with Haaland on course to be one of the world’s best.
Haaland has just two senior caps for Norway thus far, but began playing for them at under-15 level in 2015.
"Obviously at the younger age groups at that time, that wouldn't have been on my radar, because when he broke into first-team football he was pretty much already in the Norwegian youth system," said Southgate.
"We recruit early, but we wouldn't have been into him when he was still in Yorkshire, that's for sure.
"We're always trying to monitor those cases, but I think in that instance he was tied up pretty early by Norway and I think also, with players like him, they're quite clear where they want to play as well.
"He feels that allegiance to the country that he's playing for now and you're always very respectful of that."
