Erling Haaland to Man City: How Man Utd missed out on signing in 2020

Erling Braut Haaland‘s switch to Manchester City is now close to being official.

On Monday morning, The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed that the move will be completed sometime this week, with the Premier League champions set to pay the young superstar’s €75 million release clause.

It’s a transfer that will certainly strike fear into the hearts of rival fans.

Haaland has evolved into one of the world’s best forwards in recent years and his goal record at Borussia Dortmund is astounding.

In 88 matches across all competitions, the 21-year-old has scored 85 times, including 15 in just 13 Champions League outings.

A player with those numbers operating alongside Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez? Yeah, that’s pretty terrifying.

City have been awesome throughout 2021/22 without a recognised striker, so you dread to think what Pep Guardiola’s side will be capable of with one of the very best leading the line.

For Manchester United fans, Haaland’s switch to the Etihad Stadium will be a bitter pill to swallow, as they could have signed him for a bargain fee.

While he was bursting onto the scene out in Austria with Red Bull Salzburg, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer met with the player and struck an agreement over a €20 million January move to Old Trafford.

So why did it fall through? Well, according to ESPN, Ed Woodward decided to pull the plug on the deal because of agent fees and the fact Haaland’s camp wanted a release clause inserted.

That allowed Dortmund to swoop in and complete the transfer, a move which really has paid dividends for them.

The Bundesliga outfit got two-and-a-half brilliant years out of Haaland and will make a tidy €55 million profit as well.

That so easily could have been United and given