Would be stupid to say Juventus don't regret signing Erling Haaland, asserts Federico Cherubini
Juventus director Federico Cherubini admits that the club regrets not signing Erling Haaland when the Italian club had their chance to do so in 2017. The Norwegian joined Borussia Dortmund in the winter window of 2020 for a reported fee of €20 million and has since thrived for the club.
Erling Haaland has gone on to achieve superstardom at Borussia Dortmund with the forward scoring 63 goals in 64 appearances across all competitions for the German club. The 21-year-old has also provided 18 assists for his teammates to date for Dortmund with him an instrumental part as the Bundesliga side lifted the DFB-Pokal Cup last season. But before Dortmund signed the Norwegian from RB Salzburg, he had a plethora of clubs linked with a move.
It has seen Juventus director Cherubini admit that they had made an attempt to sign Haaland way back in 2017 but their efforts to complete a deal did not materialize as Haaland ultimately decided to pursue a different path to the top. The Norwegian striker, who was with Molde then in his homeland, decided to move to RB Salzburg and then signed with the German giants for €20 million.
Cherubini admitted regret at not completing a deal for the talented Norwegian then but stressed that context should be taken into account.
"We do, it would be stupid to say something different. However, things must be put into context. Young players can be scared about going out on loan, we were at the beginning of our U23 project and perhaps the perspective we offered him wasn’t too exciting. Maybe the idea of going out on loan wasn’t ideal for a player like him. Maybe today, things would be different,” said Cherubini to Tuttosport.