Shakhtar Donetsk forward Manor Solomon claims Manchester City had intended to sign him before his old side in Israel double their asking price.
Solomon claims he met with City representatives to negotiate a fee during his time at Israeli side Maccabi Petah Tikva in 2017, but a deal never materialised.
City had hoped to sign the youngster for £4million but pulled out of the transfer race when Maccabi demanded £9m due to the prestige of the Premier League club.
Speaking of City's attempted transfer swoop three years ago, Solomon told The Guardian: 'They really wanted me and I had a meeting with them but unfortunately it did not work out.
'Clubs in Europe don't look at the Israeli league as a strong league, so they don't buy players from the Israeli league for such big money. My owner in Israel demanded a lot of money; he wanted £5m for me and then he heard it was Manchester City, he wanted £9m,' Solomon added.
Following the collapse of Solomon's move to City, Shakhtar tabled a £7m deal in January 2019 and signed him on a five-year contract.
Solomon felt it was a 'great opportunity to play in the Champions League' and respected the history of the club.
Solomon said: 'After, he was willing to sell me to Shakhtar Donetsk and I wanted to go.'
'I looked at the history of the club, I saw everything, the players they produced over there.
'I thought it was a great opportunity for me to play in the Champions League, to continue my young career in this club.'
The 21-year-old is the cornerstone of the Ukrainian side, having scored 10 goals in 56 games and claiming two league titles.
He has, however, stated that he would live to move to a more prestigious league in the future.
He said: 'I am enjoying life at Shakhtar, I am only 21 years old but one day – sooner or later – I will join one of the best leagues in the world.'
Solomon has shown he has what it takes to compete in such leagues, having against City in a Champions League group-stage fixture last November.
Recalling to moment, he said: 'I played against them with Shakhtar and it was a really good point for us but in the end, it didn't help us to qualify. It was also very special to play against Manchester City and Pep Guardiola and to score.'
Solomon also scored the decisive goal to see Shakhtar beat Real Madrid 3-2 in October.
He said: 'It was incredible, it was really amazing for us as a team to win in Madrid, against one of the best teams in the world.
'Real Madrid have won so many titles and have such a great history, so it felt really, really special for us.
'I think nobody thought that we would win … It was maybe one of the biggest wins in the history of Shakhtar and for me it was also very special to score in the Champions League against Real Madrid, who are maybe the biggest club in the world.'