Pablo Longoria Reveals Missed Opportunity: Could Have Signed Erling Haaland at Juventus
Football executive Pablo Longoria recently revealed a major career regret: missing out on signing Erling Haaland for Juventus. Longoria, currently the president of Olympique de Marseille, shared the story on a recent Twitch stream.
Longoria, who served as a recruiter for Juventus between 2015 and 2018, was tasked with identifying young talent. While he enjoyed success during his time at the Italian club, there was one player who got away: Erling Haaland.
“For me there are three stories, no, we can say the failures, that we made as a club,” Longoria admitted. “It was Haaland at Juventus, and it’s even a personal failure that I always remember. I was at the Under-17 Euro in Croatia, I don’t remember the exact date but it was around 2015 or 2017. It was in Croatia and it was the 2000 generation. I would never have noticed him in this European Championship but he was starting to break through in Molde. The person who followed the young people was Matteo Tognozzi and he is now sporting director at Granada, he always talked about Haaland, Haaland, Haaland… He talked about it a lot and he was 17 years old at Molde.”
Longoria explained that he went to see Haaland play once in Molde, and immediately recognized his immense talent.
“He was strong,” Longoria recalled.
Then came a crucial dinner meeting in Turin. Haaland’s father, Alf-Inge Haaland, visited the club, and Longoria, alongside Federico Cherubini, hosted the meeting.
“There was a taboo,” Longoria said, “We were not to talk about Roy Keane. It was taboo with his father, we should definitely not talk about Roy Keane because at the time Erling Haaland was still the son of Alf-Inge Haaland and not the other way around.”
Longoria, being cognizant of the family’s past, had to tread carefully. There was a point in the dinner when Haaland Sr. asked what his son’s career plan would be.
“At the time there was no second team at Juventus yet, there wasn’t much to offer,” Longoria explained. “But it’s true that it’s something we worked on well there.”
Unfortunately, the deal never materialized, and Haaland went on to become a global superstar. Longoria still reflects on this missed opportunity with a twinge of regret.
Could Juventus have won more trophies with Erling Haaland on the team?
“Pablo Longoria’s recent revelation about almost signing Erling Haaland for Juventus is sure to spark a debate among football fans. Knowing what we know now about Haaland’s meteoric rise to stardom,could Juventus have become an unstoppable force had they landed him? Do you think longoria and Juventus made a mistake by not pushing harder for the signing,or was it simply a matter of timing and circumstance?”
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