Dortmund win race for Haaland
MANCHESTER UNITED have missed out on signing Erling Haaland after refusing to meet the demands of his representatives. Borussia Dortmund confirmed yesterday that they have won the race for the highly-rated Red Bull Salzburg striker after paying the £18million buyout clause in his contract. It is understood that Dortmund have also agreed to give his agent Mino Raiola and father Alf Inge Haaland a significant share of the 19-year-old player’s future sales value. It means Raiola will control Haaland’s next transfer, and the Old Trafford hierarchy were not prepared to agree to that. Still, the outcome will be a disappointment for United and their manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who worked with Haaland at Molde and flew to Salzburg on a private jet earlier this month to make a personal sales pitch to the player and his representatives. ‘I don’t comment on speculation,’ Solskjaer said afterwards. ‘He knows what he wants to do and he knows what he’s going to do, so I don’t have to give any advice to any other teams’ players.’ Juventus and Red Bull Leipzig were also linked with Haaland, who has scored 28 goals in 22 games for Salzburg this season, but Dortmund announced that he had signed a deal until 2024. Haaland said: ‘There was a feeling right from the start that I absolutely wanted to switch to this club, go this route and play football in this incredible Dortmund atmosphere in front of more than 80,000 spectators. I’m already burning for it.’ United were hoping to strengthen their attack after allowing Romelu Lukaku to leave for Inter Milan in the summer without signing a replacement. Despite the emergence of teenager Mason Greenwood, they are still in the market for a striker and will look to sign one before the start of next season in addition to two midfielders.