Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has lifted the lid on how the Black and Yellows beat Manchester United to the signing of Erling Haaland.
Haaland, 21, joined the Bundesliga side from RB Salzburg in January 2020 in a deal worth just £18m.
Although the German side ended up winning the race for the prolific Norweigan’s signature, the winter window of 2020 saw the Red Devils come agonisingly close to poaching the 21-year-old themselves.
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Haaland’s connection with former Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appeared, at the time, to be the driving force behind the 20-time league winners’ pursuit of arguably the sport’s biggest prospect.
However, after eventually opting to team up with the boys in black and yellow, Haaland’s decision has worked out well with the striker going on to score 85 goals in just 87 appearances.
Confirming just how close the 21-year-old came to joining Man United, Dortmund CEO Watzke has recently revealed that the deciding factor in the player’s decision was the German’s willingness to include a release clause into his contract – something which presumably United did not want to do.
Borussia Dortmund CEO Watzke tells 19:09 Talk: “We gave Erling Haaland a release clause… otherwise he would have gone to Manchester United”. ??? #MUFC
“He has a decision to make, it will come eventually. But I’m sure we’ll find the new Haaland. We need the new Haaland”. #BVB pic.twitter.com/32p6wWfVBa
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 29, 2022