October 29, (THEWILL) – Borussia Dortmund CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke, disclosed that Manchester United made a “better offer” than his Bundesliga club for Erling Haaland, but the player’s agent, Mino Raiola, rejected a move to England to help the Norwegian’s growth.
Despite United’s best efforts to persuade him to move to Old Trafford, Haaland joined Dortmund from RB Salzburg at the turn of 2020.
The youngster’s statistics demonstrate that the decision was successful. Haaland has scored 70 goals and provided 19 assists in 69 games since arriving and is already regarded as one of the top attackers in the world at the age of 21.
“The offer from Manchester United was better. However Mino Raiola realised that Erling is better off with us,” the Dortmund CEO noted.
“People notice that gifted people make a breakthrough with us the quickest. That is a resounding argument for the players, the parents of the players and the advisors. We have no inhibitions about letting 17-year-olds play,” he added.
Again, during the last transfer season, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer worked hard to persuade Haaland, a fellow Norwegian, to leave Dortmund, but as Dortmund’s chief executive Watzke revealed, the promise of growth at a club known in recent years for propelling players to the top was more enticing than United’s bigger financial incentives.
However, injury has hampered Haaland’s season thus far, and there are concerns that he may miss the rest of the season due to a hip flexor ailment.
According to Bild, Haaland has “ripped a muscle bundle in the hip flexor,” which will prevent him from participating in full training for at least six weeks.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
