Why Manchester United didn’t sign Borussia Dortmund’s new striker Erling Haaland

United have been in the market for a striker since allowing Lukaku to join Internazionale in the summer, though the progression of Mason Greenwood has eased the workload on Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford

Manchester United were beaten to the signature of striker Erling Haaland by Borussia Dortmund after refusing to meet the demands of the player’s representatives.

The highly rated 19-year-old was announced as a Dortmund player on Sunday and will join from Red Bull Salzburg on a four-and-a-half year deal on 3 January.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer travelled to Salzburg to speak with Haaland earlier this month but faced stiff competition for his signature from Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Juventus.

Solskjaer has a personal relationship with Haaland having managed him during their time together at Molde in their native Norway, but United are believed to have balked at his camp’s financial demands.

A deal taking Haaland to United would have allowed his agent Mino Raiola and Alf-Inge Haaland, the player’s father, to have control of any future transfer through buy-out fees and sell-on clauses.

Such a construct is not uncommon in German football but United were not prepared to hand over control of any future transfer, with senior sources describing it as “bad for the industry”.

United have previous with Raiola, having worked with him to bring Paul Pogba and Sergio Romero to the club, as well as the now departed Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Romelu Lukaku.

United have been in the market for a striker since allowing Lukaku to join Internazionale in the summer, though the progression of Mason Greenwood has eased the workload on Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

Their pursuit was also hampered by a lack of Champions League football, with all three rivals for Haaland’s signature competing in the last 16 of Europe’s top club competition. United currently sit four pints adrift of fourth-place Chelsea in the hunt for a Champions League place next season.