News now: Non-League club contacted Man City over Erling Haaland for '£150-plus-petrol' deal

The 2022 World Cup being held in the winter of the previous year was extremely strange for football fans all around the world.

The World Cup was held in Qatar, and Lionel Messi eventually won it for Argentina after helping them defeat the reigning champions France in a thrilling final.

Some players had lots of extra rest and leisure during the midseason break. A number of Premier League stars benefited from extra rest while the World Cup was going on, including Mo Salah, Martin Odegaard, and Riyad Mahrez.

Erling Haaland, a forward for Manchester City, was also there. Last season, the Norwegian striker led Pep Guardiola's assault and set the Premier League on fire.

Photo showing Erling Haaland

Read more: Fans make fun of £400k weekly 'That's like pennies': Erling Haaland's MOTM award in Japan

Haaland, who had just recently joined for Man City months earlier, was, in fact, being pursued by another team in the north-west. specifically Ashton United.

While Haaland was on winter break, a Northern Premier League team made the most audacious of bold offers to try to sign him on a loan, suggesting they could help him keep his fitness levels up by having him play for them.

Co-chairman Jonathan Sayer recently confessed to the Mirror that while there was no chance they would sign Haaland, they had the opportunity to pay him a handsome "£150 a week plus petrol money" to join Ashton United at Hurst Cross.

It made sense in many ways, according to news now. "Since City had a six-week hiatus from competition, we offered to keep Haaland in shape throughout the World Cup break.

"I was in a meeting when our head of media sent a humorous tweet that made the notion public. Suddenly, my phone began vibrating erratically in my pocket.

"Before you knew it, Ashton United was making headlines across the globe, from News now to Australia, and we backed up our offer by sending it to City in writing via email.

Imagine Haaland making his debut at Hurst Cross with all the homemade banners; it would have raised the bar takings and put a few on the gate.

Let's face it, though: The player's pay was always going to be an issue. We could have given him £150 every week in addition to gas money, but that wasn't going to happen.

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