Duncan Ferguson said Everton rejected the chance to sign player who’s now worth £206m, he was at Finch Farm

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Everton actually turned down the chance to sign a player who’s now gone on to become one of the world’s best.

Duncan Ferguson has a lot of very interesting stories from his time at Everton as both a player and a coach.

A notable tale that has emerged over the last few months is that Ferguson actually urged chiefs not to sign Cenk Tosun back in 2018 because he ‘looked like an old man’.

Ferguson has also spoken about a bust-up he had with Marcel Brands, who was the club’s sporting director between 2018 and 2021.

Another fascinating revelation that has come out is about a transfer blunder Everton made several years ago, as they decided against signing a player who’s now gone on to become world class.

• READ MORE: 18-goal Everton target has just announced that he’s officially leaving Premier League club

Duncan Ferguson said Everton rejected chance to sign Erling Haaland

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast in 2022, Ferguson revealed that Everton actually rejected the opportunity to sign then-teenager Erling Haaland for £2m.

“I mean my God, what a phenomenal player Erling Haaland is,” the former Everton striker said.

“He’s going to be incredible, isn’t he? But believe it or not, he was in at Everton. His Dad had brought him in at Everton and they never signed him!

“He was brought in at about 15 or 16 years of age and the team he was with at the time [Bryne] wanted a couple of million quid for him and Everton wouldn’t buy him. Everton didn’t think it was the right move for them at the time.”

Erling Haaland now worth £206m

Since being rejected by the Toffees, Haaland has established himself as arguably the best striker on the planet.

After prolific spells at Molde, RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund, the Norway international is now a £206m player at Manchester City.

That’s according to Statista, who estimate Haaland as the second-most valuable player in the world, only behind Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.

The 25-year-old has already scored 259 goals in 329 games throughout his career, so clearly it’s one that got away for Everton.