Former Manchester City defender Colin Rosler is delighted seeing Erling Haaland now at the Etihad.
Rosler, the son of City cult hero Uwe Rosler, is a Norway U21 international and is close to Haaland.
Now with Lillestrom, Rosler told City's website: "The first time I met Erling was when we were playing Norway Under-15s team," recalled Rosler.
“He was tall and lanky, but not the physical presence he is today – but straight away, you could see he had something special.
“We had back-to-back games against Sweden, and in the second game, he mentioned at half-time that the Swedish keeper liked to stand quite far out of his goal, so at the kick-off, he shot the ball from the halfway line, over the goalkeeper and into the net.
“I'd already witnessed his ability in the training sessions, but that was an early example of what he was capable of.
“For me, his biggest asset was his mentality and self-belief – he didn't know for certain, but right from that early age he believed that he would go on to become one of the best players in the world – even if many others didn't at the time – he never stopped believing that he would get there, and he has done."
The fact both their dads were former City players gave both teenagers a mutual connection that saw them quickly become friends.
“When we first met, one of the first things we spoke about was City," said Rosler.
"We obviously both had that connection of our dads playing for the club, though a few years apart, plus the fact we'd both been City fans from an early age.
“He's always been a Blue and it was his dream to one day play for City.
“He came over to Manchester for a visit to watch City play in the Champions League, but beforehand he came to see the UEFA Youth League game I was playing in at the Academy Stadium.
“He was sat next to my mum and his dad Alfie was there and while he was watching, he said, 'I want to come and play for this club'.
“He's always had that drive and dream to one day play for City and follow in his dad's footsteps.
“He's followed City very closely and was aware of my dad's time at the club and obviously his dad's too, but he knows a lot of the history and what Manchester City is about."
