Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has confirmed that Manchester United made a move to sign Erling Haaland.
Haaland, 21, is one of the most coveted footballers on the planet. That was already the case prior to his move from Red Bull Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund, with the striker having netted 29 goals in 27 appearances for the Austrian giants.
Dortmund were the side fortunate enough to get their hands on the Norwegian superstar, but they were not the only club in the running, as has been confirmed by Hans-Joachim Watzke, CEO of Die Schwarzgelben.
They were in fact joined by Premier League heavyweights Manchester United in the race to sign Haaland, with the Red Devils actually having made a more attractive financial proposal to Mino Raiola and his client…
#BVB CEO Watzke on Borussia’s strategy of landing top talents: „Our offer for Haaland was not the best,” he says to OMR. “The offer from Manchester United was better. However Mino Raiola realized that Erling is better off with us.(…)We have no inhibitions to let them play.” ???
— Patrick Berger (@berger_pj) October 28, 2021
MORE: Race to sign Haaland hots up as striker set to demand staggering wage package
With the pressure that comes with playing for a club like Manchester United, you have to think that Haaland and Raiola made the right decision by signing for Dortmund first.
Of course, it also virtually guaranteed that Raiola would get a sizeable chunk of cash from his eventual sale, something that likely wouldn’t have been the case were he a Man United player immediately.
Man United fans will rue their missed opportunity to get Haaland through the door, but they will have the opportunity to right that wrong when the summer of 2022 comes around.