Former Arsenal scout Brian McDermott has branded claims that Arsenal could have signed Erling Haaland when he was still at Molde as ‘pie in the sky’ even though he did meet with the player’s father.

Speaking to the Athletic, Molde’s former chief scout, John Vik, claimed that Arsenal were one of a few clubs that could have signed Erling Haaland when he was still playing for Molde.

Arsenal did indeed scout Haaland in 2018 as we reported, one of a number of clubs to do so. The club even brought him to London before he moved to Borussia Dortmund, after he’d left Molde for RB Salzburg.

But McDermott is firm in his claim that Arsenal had no chance of signing Haaland because his family had his career path clearly outlined.

“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.

“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.”

They have indeed managed his career well and looking at all of Haaland’s moves, the fees paid for him are well below his market value every move but one.

Valued at just £180k when he was at Bryne FK, he moved to Molde for £90k.

The only move of Haaland’s career so far where a club paid over the odds for him was when he moved to RB Salzburg for £7.2m when he was worth £4.5m.

There his value rose to £40.5m but they only got £18m for him from Borussia Dortmund.

When City paid £54m for him, Haaland was valued at £135m.

Every club selling him made a healthy profit, every club buying him got a bargain, and part of the money they saved no doubt went into Haaland’s bank account.

Superb business.