According to Goal, Gerland discussed Bayern player Kahl in an interview and recalled his past suggestion to Bayern to sign Haaland.

Kahl previously played for Eintracht Frankfurt's youth team, a rival of Bayern in the Bundesliga. In 2022, he transferred from Viktoria Aschaffenburg to Bayern's youth academy. In the 2025/26 season, Kahl joined the first team under Kompany and became a German international.

Such development did not surprise Gerland. In an interview with "Abendzeitung," he said: "I watched this kid play 10 times, and all 10 times he was the best on the field. If I only watch a player once, I have to keep observing. But when I see such a talented young player 10 times, I know he will become someone special. I had the same good feeling about Erling Haaland very quickly back then."

It's no secret that Gerland was very keen to bring Haaland to Munich at that time. He said: "I watched the Norwegian youth team play against the German youth team, and I thought to myself: 'What's going on? Who is this person?'"

Gerland's advice was very clear: "I immediately called Bayern and said: 'We must sign him.'" At that time, Haaland was still playing for Molde FK, and a few days later he moved to Bayern's youth academy. Gerland recalled: "The transfer fee would not have been very high; he wanted a pre-tax income of between 10,000 and 15,000 euros. But in the end, Bayern was unwilling to pay that amount."

Competition in the forward line was considered the decisive factor. Gerland said: "Someone said: 'We already have Thomas Müller and Robert Lewandowski up front. Where would he play?'"

Haaland did not join Bayern, but instead signed with Red Bull Salzburg a few years later. After that, he joined Borussia Dortmund and then transferred to Manchester City in 2022 for 60 million euros. At that time, Bayern also actively tried to sign Haaland but could not match the financial terms offered by City.

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