Manchester United to give up on Haaland quickly if deal too expensive

Manchester United executives will be instructed to exit the race for Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland quickly if the transfer is deemed too costly, in order to focus their efforts on identifying and securing alternative targets, according to The Athletic.

United have been pursuing attacking reinforcements for a while now. They were heavily linked with Haaland prior to his move away from RB Salzburg in January last year, but they were beaten to the punch by Dortmund which the young striker obviously considered a better option for his development. This summer, Haaland is expected to cost a sum in excess of £100 million, with significant amounts expected to be paid to his father Alf-Inge and agent Mino Raiola on top of that.

Quite apart from those potential expenses, signing Haaland would require any potential suitor to make the Norwegian, who is yet to turn 21, to be the club’s top earner, ahead of their established, long-serving stars. At the moment, both Manchester United and City are weighing the matter up to decide whether it’s all worth it.