KRC Genk sports director Dimitri de Condé has recalled missing out on deals for Manchester City star Erling Haaland and Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund.
De Conde says Genk were close to landing both centre-forwards.
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"We were in talks with Erling Haaland for a while, but the problem was that he had already gone too far in his talks with Red Bull Salzburg (where he played before Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City)," said De Condé to Het Belang van Limburg.
"However, we got further in the negotiations with Rasmus Höjlund. In the end, however, he chose Sturm Graz."
This was when Höjlund was still playing at home in Denmark with FC Copenhagen.
There was only six months with Sturm Graz before Höjlund was bought by Atalanta, and then moved on to Manchester United.