Hans-Joachim Watzke, the CEO of Borussia Dortmund, has revealed how close Erling Haaland was to joining Manchester United back in January 2020. This was never before revealed by anyone although there were some transfer talks of him joining City or united.
The Norwegian striker was flourishing at Red Bull Salzburg, and then-Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer thought he'd done a deal for a player he knew very well from Molde.
According to rumors at the time, United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward dropped out of the deal due to Mino Raiola's agent fee and a refusal to include a release provision in Haaland's contract.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the manager of Manchester United back then, felt he had a deal in place for his former striker from Molde.
Watzke and Dortmund were able to sneak in shortly before the January 2020 transfer window and steal the prolific scorer from under United's noses. To make matters worse, Haaland is expected to join Manchester City this summer.
'We offered Erling Haaland a release clause...,' Watzke told 19:09 Talk. He would have gone to Manchester United otherwise.'
Haaland has 82 goals in 86 appearances for Dortmund and is likely to join Manchester City.
They were third in the Premier League at the end of that season, but have been on the slide since then, and may not even qualify for Europe this time. City have reached terms on a £500,000-a-week agreement to sign Haaland, making him the highest-paid player in the Premier League, as Sportsmail reported earlier this month. He has signed a five-year contract with the Etihad Stadium.
'He has a decision to make, it will come eventually,' Watzke added, implying that Haaland's exit is near. But I'm confident we'll discover the new Haaland. We require a new Haaland.
The young Norwegian signing for Manchester city would not come as a surprise at all as many rumors and transfer talks linked him up for the English side. We can only hope Haaland remains on top of his game at City given enough playing time if the transfer comes true.
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