Erling Haaland could still have a transfer impact at Manchester United

Transparency in football is still opaque. The release clause for Erling Haaland was lower than the €75million Borussia Dortmund had briefed and Manchester City suggested the overall cost, including commission and a signing-on fee, was £85.6 million.

City officials were dealing with Mino Raiola before he passed away on April 30 and even on his deathbed, there were few negotiators more skilful.

Dortmund previously had their pants pulled down by Raiola. Haaland's potential was renowned when he signed from Red Bull Salzburg for €20m in late December 2019. He had pillaged eight goals in six Champions League group games and Manchester United had attempted to sign him. The release clause was a knockdown and Haaland then emerged to poach a 23-minute hat-trick on his debut.

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Haaland rejected United but the club's version of events was they withdrew from the move as they refused to agree to a release clause and percentage of future sales. Raiola also wanted to secure a share from future sales of the Norwegian striker.

United sources described the terms as 'bad for the industry', a favoured get-out dating back to the infamous summer window of 2018. United were scrambling around for a centre-back and Yerry Mina was being hawked around the continent after a couple of goals at the World Cup. Ed Woodward was appalled by the commission Mina's representative was demanding and hoped Everton would pass on the Colombian for the sake of the industry.

Raiola pocketed €41m in commission from Paul Pogba's world-record transfer to United in 2016 but United had suddenly taken a dim view of 'super agents' and were unprepared to put themselves in a position where Raiola could effectively