Erling Haaland fell for Man City watching me play - I had to leave but now we're team-mates again

This week has been a long time coming for Colin Rosler.

The stars have never quite aligned for the defender when it comes to both Manchester City and Erling Haaland. Both players grew up as City fans owing to their fathers both playing for the Blues.

Haaland's love for City is no secret, from the retro shirts to Wembley visits to the famous picture of him sitting on his settee as a child. Rosler can probably trump him - he is named after Colin Bell and came through the academy at the Etihad Campus from the age of 11. But his path at City never crossed with Haaland.

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A handful of national team camps saw them on the same team between under-15 and under-21 level. But they never pulled on the same shirt at senior level despite their close bond and similarities. Rosler made more than 50 appearances for City's academy, following in dad Uwe's footsteps and playing alongside Phil Foden and Tommy Doyle.

But he soon came to the realisation that he wouldn't be given the opportunities he wanted with the first team. "From the moment I walked in it was like a home for me," he wrote in an emotional Instagram post.

The reasons behind leaving were more calculated, however. He told Voetbalzone: "I think there's few clubs in the world where it is more difficult to make it in the first team. That chance is just very, very small. I realised that I wouldn't make it quickly, so it was better to play elsewhere in a first team instead of training with City as an Under-23 player and every now and then for the first team."

A move to