Erling Haaland

[Harold_Giles]

Really hate Real when it comes to fighting for players.
What happened regarding Mbappe? I thought they were saving up to buy him this summer.
Is Haaland even shinier than him?

 

[Champagne Football]

He'll end upst Madrid and so will Pogba. A blessing in disguise getting the gutter rat agent out of Man Utd.

Van de Beek will star next season and everyone will say it was an Ole masterstroke to boost Pogba's value while giving VDB a season on the bench to adjust to PL. Werner, Havertz etc all have taken time to adjust but finally look good.

So our updated striker target list is probably any one of Luka Jovic, Benzema, Harry Kane

 

[sp_107]

Heard our new DOF John Murtough scuppered Haaland deal for 3M before he joins Salzburg in 2018 because he dialled into meeting with Haaland agent an hour after the actual meeting time.

Might be Euro timeline (+1 hour) or John didnt bother too much, what ever it be Haaland agent thought we were not keen so he sold him to Salzburg.....

 

[M Bison]

Heard our new DOF John Murtough scuppered Haaland deal for 3M before he joins Salzburg in 2018 because he dialled into meeting with Haaland agent an hour after the actual meeting time.

Might be Euro timeline (+1 hour) or John didnt bother too much, what ever it be Haaland agent thought we were not keen so he sold him to Salzburg.....

Where did you hear this gem from?

 

[M Bison]

Could he end up at Bayern? Another season at Dortmund and then move to Bayern with Lewa being 34 perhaps?

 

[Samid]

Where did you hear this gem from?

Some random guy posted it earlier in the thread. Repeat a bullshit claim often enough and it becomes the truth.

 

[Bebestation]

Could he end up at Bayern? Another season at Dortmund and then move to Bayern with Lewa being 34 perhaps?

Haaland is a player that clearly doesnt want to stay at Bundesliga all his life. He has said how he wants to play in the PL in the last 2 years. Considering his family did too and lived here I will be very surprised if he doesnt move here soon.

Bayern wont be an easy team to buy from nor sell their best players.

The only team I'm worried about abroad is Real Madrid. I feel like the PL is his main league he will be in - yet he might find it a good time to go to Real Madrid when the La Liga isn't the most flourishing league in the moment - so he could go there and attempt to control it before he moves to PL in his prime.

Alternatively, he moves to PL next and moves to Real Madrid if he does well here and when Madrid/ La Liga themselves are back to the standards they were.

 

[AgentSmith]

You’d wonder at what point it’s economically viable for a club with an MO like Dortmund to keep Haaland.

Potentially turning down close to £150 million this year to keep him for one season, and then receive £65 million, is a bold move.

You could understand it if they thought the team was on the cusp of success and they could feasibly challenge for the league or in Europe next season but they look a far way off that.

Their squad seems like it’s in need of an overhaul across the board. Getting nearly a quarter of a billion for Sancho and Haaland in a Covid-19 stricken market would facilitate that and then some.

 

[NoLogo]

Could he end up at Bayern? Another season at Dortmund and then move to Bayern with Lewa being 34 perhaps?

I have no doubt Bayern will be in for him. In fact, I would be surprised if any of the big European teams actually wouldn't be involved in the bidding war. I think in England at least Chelsea, City, Liverpool and Us. In Spain Real and Barca. albeit I don't think Barca will make a bid if Messi extends his contract there, they will simply lack the money to make serious effort. Oh, yeah and of course I have no doubt PSG is going to try to get him as well. I also have a feeling that this deal will be insanely expansive. Not only will whoever signs him have to agree to his probably very high wages but also to the fee Raiola will most likely ask for which I reckon will easily be north of €25M on top of having to pay Dortmund a hefty fee that will probably be around €150M if Watzke is really telling the truth and there is no buyout clause in Haalands contract.

 

[Dj Law]

I believe Haaland will come and Pogba and Solskjaer will sign new contracts. All three happenings are to some extent dependent on each other.

 

[beingshe7don]

I believe Haaland will come and Pogba and Solskjaer will sign new contracts. All three happenings are to some extent dependent on each other.

Haaland
O Dembele (loan)
Bissouma
Milenkovic

wouldn't be a bad summer.

 

[davidmichael]

Are they 4 points off fourth with 8 games to go ? Obviously without looking I don’t know their fixture list but you kind of think that with a Champions League quarter final coming up they could realistically miss out on fourth place.

If we can’t get him then I’d be fine with Haaland going to Real or Barca as they’re not a domestic rival, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Mbappe if Haaland goes to Real though as most have thought it’s nailed on Mbappe goes to Real next up.

 

[Boavista]

You’d wonder at what point it’s economically viable for a club with an MO like Dortmund to keep Haaland.

Potentially turning down close to £150 million this year to keep him for one season, and then receive £65 million, is a bold move.

You could understand it if they thought the team was on the cusp of success and they could feasibly challenge for the league or in Europe next season but they look a far way off that.

Their squad seems like it’s in need of an overhaul across the board. Getting nearly a quarter of a billion for Sancho and Haaland in a Covid-19 stricken market would facilitate that and then some.

Yeah at some point they'll need to weigh their options, and think whether keeping Haaland or reinvesting the transfer proceeds is better for the medium/long term success of the club. On the other hand it's not clear if another club will actually offer anywhere close to that sum in these times, especially given the transfer clause next summer. There are reports though that the clause next summer is actually fair bit higher than the 65 million figure previously reported. If that's true then Dortmund might not be that inclined to sell just yet, unless Haland really pushes for an exit because he doesn't want to miss out on an opportunity to chase CL goal records.

On your point about a squad overhaul, it does look like they need to invest in some areas. You never know though, a lot of that could be improved with a better coach. Some of their better players are probably past their peak like Reus and Witsel, but others like Dahoud, Brandt or Hazard could possibly get back on track if their new coach can implement a good system. So who knows, with so many players underperforming. Move them on or hope they flourish under Rose.

They don't look like they're on the cusp of success at the moment but things can turn around fast. Also I wouldn't discount the value of having Haaland in the squad for an extra year even just in terms of international exposure. Every year of hanging on to exciting players and staying relevant probably helps them grow as a club, but they really should get their shit together and turn that into an exciting team.

 

[Dave Smith]

You’d wonder at what point it’s economically viable for a club with an MO like Dortmund to keep Haaland.

Potentially turning down close to £150 million this year to keep him for one season, and then receive £65 million, is a bold move.

You could understand it if they thought the team was on the cusp of success and they could feasibly challenge for the league or in Europe next season but they look a far way off that.

Their squad seems like it’s in need of an overhaul across the board. Getting nearly a quarter of a billion for Sancho and Haaland in a Covid-19 stricken market would facilitate that and then some.

I think a lot depends on where they finish in the league. If they get CL they may chance their arm as they may decide that going for glory is worth it and without him they will be dicing with losing their minimum £30m CL money for qualifying again in 2022. So, they may look at is as £120m today but be in trouble for CL qualifying which costs £30m minimum. Or risk it, sell for £65m but have a lot more chance at the guranteed £30m+ from qualifying.

If they fail to get top 4 he 100% goes. If they scape it, they may keep.

 

[Holocene]

I believe Haaland will come and Pogba and Solskjaer will sign new contracts. All three happenings are to some extent dependent on each other.

Having Ole as manager won't have any impact on signing Haaland. Pogba certainly will though.

 

[Dave Smith]

Are they 4 points off fourth with 8 games to go ? Obviously without looking I don’t know their fixture list but you kind of think that with a Champions League quarter final coming up they could realistically miss out on fourth place.

If we can’t get him then I’d be fine with Haaland going to Real or Barca as they’re not a domestic rival, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Mbappe if Haaland goes to Real though as most have thought it’s nailed on Mbappe goes to Real next up.

They are in a bit of trouble. There next game is away to Frankfurt. If they lose that Frankfurt will go 7 points clear with 7 games to go, whilst Wolfsburg will likely be 10 ahead with 7 games to go.

Furthermore, their fixture list is slightly harder than Frankfurt's as they have RBL(h), Leverkusen(h), Wolfburg(a) and Stuttgart(a) in their run in, whereas Frankfurt have Wolfsburg (h), Leverkusen (a) and Gladbach (a) - although they have really fallen off, as their most difficult ties.

Wolfsburg do admittedly have a tough run in: Frankfurt (a), Bayern (h), Stuttgart (a), Dortmund (h), RBL (a). However, if they go 10 points clear with 7 to play it is hard to see them being caught with Dortmunds run-in.

 

[AgentSmith]

Yeah at some point they'll need to weigh their options, and think whether keeping Haaland or reinvesting the transfer proceeds is better for the medium/long term success of the club. On the other hand it's not clear if another club will actually offer anywhere close to that sum in these times, especially given the transfer clause next summer. There are reports though that the clause next summer is actually fair bit higher than the 65 million figure previously reported. If that's true then Dortmund might not be that inclined to sell just yet, unless Haland really pushes for an exit because he doesn't want to miss out on an opportunity to chase CL goal records.

On your point about a squad overhaul, it does look like they need to invest in some areas. You never know though, a lot of that could be improved with a better coach. Some of their better players are probably past their peak like Reus and Witsel, but others like Dahoud, Brandt or Hazard could possibly get back on track if their new coach can implement a good system. So who knows, with so many players underperforming. Move them on or hope they flourish under Rose.

They don't look like they're on the cusp of success at the moment but things can turn around fast. Also I wouldn't discount the value of having Haaland in the squad for an extra year even just in terms of international exposure. Every year of hanging on to exciting players and staying relevant probably helps them grow as a club, but they really should get their shit together and turn that into an exciting team.

Good post. Promotion beckons.

If the point about the release clause being substantially higher than £65 million is true it could make sense for them to hang on.

And that’s a fair comment on the improvements a new manager will provide. Having Rose for a full year will definitely produce better results next season.

It would be a shame for Dortmund to not fully utilise a player like Haaland while they still have him so if they do keep him hopefully they have a monster season next year and give Bayern a run for their money.

 

[Dve]

The only thing elite footballers care about is money and winning trophies.

As footballers in the end are just normal people, I suppose that´s your view on people in general then. I beg to disagree.

 

[KingKoki]

Poor Gibraltar, facing an angry Haaland on Wednesday.

 

[redshaw]

His stance on CL being a must kind of makes it difficult for United. We don't have a good track record in qualifying and this year will be the first time we've qualified back to back since Fergie. You'd hope him being at United would be enough to fire us to certain qualification, likewise I see Dortmund making it anyway. Even Liverpool are looking dodgy. City have only been the really consistent qualifier, not just United lacking, it's the PL top 6 nature so he'd have to pick his PL club wisely.

I don't see him selling for 150m as he's not going to play in ligue 1 and City have yet to pay a fee over 70m, Chelsea could be on to a good thing with Tuchel and Roman paying a lot to get them back up there but they've been up and down a bit. They do seem to get their targets but not sure they will be a big draw for Haaland, Chelsea perhaps the only likely big money 120m+ option.

It's very good for him he has this lowish release clause next year, he can pick his club like a Madrid or City or even Bayern and it would be an easy transfer.

I guess if City is his choice and they don't want another season without a striker then they could pay around 100m, Dortmund get an extra 35m. Madrid is the ultimate CL club, they have a knack of getting deep into the comp when not playing well and if playing poorly in the league they still end up 3rd.

Also if he wants to move around Europe's big 4 leagues and even return to Germany for some unfinished business, going for a huge fee you'd kind of expect a long contract being so I see him trying to move more on his own terms more and not get stuck on some long deal.

 

[sp_107]

Where did you hear this gem from?

Former Everton scout Brian King previously told the Mirror that United made a mistake in regards to bringing Haaland to Manchester, but Football Insider can now reveal that Murtough was at the heart of the blunder.

In August 2018, Molde were expecting a call at 9am from the Manchester club to finalise a £3m deal. However, as England was an hour ahead, Murtough mistakenly made the call at 10am. In the meantime, the Norwegian side agreed a deal with RB Salzburg instead.

Talking to the Mirror, King described the predicament as a “freak situation”.



Newly-appointed Man Utd chief named as architect of Haaland blunder (teamtalk.com)

 

[wolvored]

Former Everton scout Brian King previously told the Mirror that United made a mistake in regards to bringing Haaland to Manchester, but Football Insider can now reveal that Murtough was at the heart of the blunder.

In August 2018, Molde were expecting a call at 9am from the Manchester club to finalise a £3m deal. However, as England was an hour ahead, Murtough mistakenly made the call at 10am. In the meantime, the Norwegian side agreed a deal with RB Salzburg instead.

Talking to the Mirror, King described the predicament as a “freak situation”.



Newly-appointed Man Utd chief named as architect of Haaland blunder (teamtalk.com)

Yes I read that as well. Whether its true is another matter.

 

[VidaRed]

Former Everton scout Brian King previously told the Mirror that United made a mistake in regards to bringing Haaland to Manchester, but Football Insider can now reveal that Murtough was at the heart of the blunder.

In August 2018, Molde were expecting a call at 9am from the Manchester club to finalise a £3m deal. However, as England was an hour ahead, Murtough mistakenly made the call at 10am. In the meantime, the Norwegian side agreed a deal with RB Salzburg instead.

Talking to the Mirror, King described the predicament as a “freak situation”.



Newly-appointed Man Utd chief named as architect of Haaland blunder (teamtalk.com)

Scandalous if true.

 

[11 forwards]

Having Ole as manager won't have any impact on signing Haaland. Pogba certainly will though.

How do you know it won't have an impact?

As long as Ole was important for his development back in Molde, and they still talk to each other frequently.

 

[ElectroManiac]

People saying to wait for next year to get him with his lower release clause are deluded. This kid will move this Summer for sure. City, Chelsea, PSG and Madrid are ready to trow 150m or more on Dortmunds way just to get this kid as soon as possible, and Dortmund won't say no to it. This Summer is our only chance and I'm hoping we are financially ready to give it a shot

 

[NicolaSacco]

Sorry - to say players at 23 are at their peak years is total unequivocal nonsense. Especially attackers/forwards where decision making, consistency and confidence is vital. To also suggest a side who are second - have only 2 (Matic and Cavani) players that still contribute over the age of 28 - and 7 first teamers in our most regular lineup 25 or under - haven’t got fantastic scope to improve in the future suggests you may have a bit of an agenda.

I’m afraid it’s not nonsense, and the PL is absolutely littered with strikers who got their best figures by say 23, and never beat them. At some point when I’m slightly less knacked (not tonight) I’ll go through them. It’s surprising, slightly depressing, and much more common than you seem to realise.
And I note you’ve subtly changed your language from the original post I replied to, to now refer to ‘scope for improvement’. Every team in the league has scope for improvement. It’s a relatively meaningless phrase and applies to literally everybody. It’s easy to appear to win an argument when you refute an assertion that hasn’t been made.

 

[Mr Smith]

For starters I don't think he moves this summer, I think he goes when his release clause kicks in and when it does I think eithter Bayern or Juventus

I'll grant you the timing potentially does work out there as Ronaldo might be gone, but I'm not sure why you think Juventus in particular would appeal to him, or in particular why it would appeal to him over an English club.

I really feel he's bound for England. It's the best league in the world at the present time, and it looks pretty clear that Haaland wants to prove himself at the very top. I hope you're right, but I'm skeptical.

 

[Dave Smith]

People saying to wait for next year to get him with his lower release clause are deluded. This kid will move this Summer for sure. City, Chelsea, PSG and Madrid are ready to trow 150m or more on Dortmunds way just to get this kid as soon as possible, and Dortmund won't say no to it. This Summer is our only chance and I'm hoping we are financially ready to give it a shot

He isn't going for €/£150m. At most it will be €120m as the kid has a €70m buy out a year later. I expect him to finally go for something like €100m. What his agents fee and signing fee is, is another matter however.

That said, I see his only options as City, Utd and Chelsea. PSG play in a farmers league (so he can go there later) and Real have not got the dollar at the moment and La Liga is currently on a downward spiral. For me, a PL team for the next three to four years minimum makes most sense, then if he wants a move to Spain.

As for who he goes to, I think there are three things to consider

1) If he picks football, the order is:

1) Chelsea
2) City
3) Utd

I honestly think Chelsea is the best set up for him from a football perspective. All they need is a striker and their first team/squad is fairly young. Further, Tuchel is a manager who whilst not on Pep level, is just the tier below. Utd have Ole who is a club legend but not in the top tier of managers.

Furthermore, City look great at the moment but there are a few warning signs they may need a rebuild in a couple of years. KdB (29), Sterling (27 - this is an issue with his playing style/position, unless he adapts) Walker (30), Mahrez (29), Fernandinho (36), Kun (32), Gundogan (30) will all need replacing in the next couple of years. So, medium to long term they are probably the biggest risk.

Utd squad wise are pretty close to Chelsea, however the problem I see is the defence needs a bit more work and the AM's are also more selfish than the Chelsea lot so he may not shine as bright.

This category is the tightest but I think Chelsea edge it.

If it is money it is:

1) City
2) Utd
=) Chelsea

City can blow either team out if they want too. No way do either Utd or Chelsea match them if they go big. Utd and Chelsea can go to a similar level it is more who wants it more. This category however, I think is the least important as I reckon the fee won't get out of hand and it is more agent fees/wages.

If it is prestige it is:

1) Utd
2) Chelsea
3) City

Utd are the most prestigious club and have the largest fan base if he is worried about social media followers. Chelsea for me edge City simply because they are probably the biggest club in London now, if not in fan base, but by recognition ans trophies over the past two decades. City are close to Chelsea but a shade under.

This category is hard to place in importance, it could be first but equally it could be last. I think you can only place this one if you know the kid himself and what he thinks.

When I look at all of this, I think it is really hard to pick where he would go and it will depend on what he values. My head is telling me he will pick Chelsea (if they get CL next season) but my gut tells me it is 50/50 between Utd and City.

 

[charlenefan]

I'll grant you the timing potentially does work out there as Ronaldo might be gone, but I'm not sure why you think Juventus in particular would appeal to him, or in particular why it would appeal to him over an English club.

I really feel he's bound for England. It's the best league in the world at the present time, and it looks pretty clear that Haaland wants to prove himself at the very top. I hope you're right, but I'm skeptical.

same reason as De Ligt chose Juventus/Italy over England - Raiola. He'll convince him its a good stepping stone move for him and that he'll get him a future move to Spain afterwards

 

[Dave Smith]

same reason as De Ligt chose Juventus/Italy over England - Raiola. He'll convince him its a good stepping stone move for him and that he'll get him a future move to Spain afterwards

Juve blew their load on De Ligt and CR7. To get Haaland they'll need to shift one or both.

 

[charlenefan]

Juve blew their load on De Ligt and CR7. To get Haaland they'll need to shift one or both.

and as I've already said I don't see Haaland moving this summer so for all anyone knows Ronaldo may well be gone summer 2022

 

[GatoLoco]

https://www.football-espana.net/2021/03/20/joan-laportas-plan-to-sign-erling-haaland-for-barcelona

No idea how credible they are but talk of Barca doing whatever they can to finance a deal.

I spoke about this possibility when Laporta won the election and people here didn't believe it could be true. It's good to see I'm not that crazy after all.

 

[Karel Podolsky]

If it is money it is:

1) City
2) Utd
=) Chelsea

City can blow either team out if they want too. No way do either Utd or Chelsea match them if they go big. Utd and Chelsea can go to a similar level it is more who wants it more. This category however, I think is the least important as I reckon the fee won't get out of hand and it is more agent fees/wages.

United can absolutely match City.

E.g
Alexis Sanchez
Maguire
Pogba.

Chelsea also beat them with Jorginho's.

 

[Dave Smith]

United can absolutely match City.

E.g
Alexis Sanchez
Maguire
Pogba.

Chelsea also beat them with Jorginho's.

Sorry, of course Utd and Chelsea can if City decide to stick to their wage/fee structure. If they decided to go all out, then not so much. This is what I meant but didn't explain it well enough.

 

[Matriac]

Former Everton scout Brian King previously told the Mirror that United made a mistake in regards to bringing Haaland to Manchester, but Football Insider can now reveal that Murtough was at the heart of the blunder.

In August 2018, Molde were expecting a call at 9am from the Manchester club to finalise a £3m deal. However, as England was an hour ahead, Murtough mistakenly made the call at 10am. In the meantime, the Norwegian side agreed a deal with RB Salzburg instead.

Talking to the Mirror, King described the predicament as a “freak situation”.



Newly-appointed Man Utd chief named as architect of Haaland blunder (teamtalk.com)

This reads like complete BS.

First of all, scheduling errors like this does happen somewhat frequently in business, but it's rarely a big issue unless it keeps happening with the same people.

If you as a player have decided that you are keen to sign for United, you don't change your mind in under an hour going from first the surprise that United's contact didn't show up to then make the decision to instead want to move your life to Switzerland, set up an impromptu call to that club and sign a deal within the hour, even if those terms were pre-negotiated at the same time as with United.
Especially not when your manager in Molde was Solskjær, who can pick up the phone and reach anyone in United to check why they didn't show up to the scheduled meeting.
His agent at the time (Solbakken) is also Ole's agent, and your father (Alfie) is a mate of Ole. I'm not sure when the deal with RB Salzburg was signed, but it officially went through on January 1st 2019, and Ole moved from Molde to United just a few weeks earlier.

You can be a bit annoyed that they didn't show up on time, and give them a hard time about it. But you don't make such a big career/life decision over it in such a short time.
Not to mention that it's also your agents job, as much as United's, to make sure that both parties have confirmed the meeting time with timezone specified, usually with a calendar invite.


It just reads as a joke rumor some ITK troll posted on a forum somewhere and journos decided to run with it since it reads as a crazy thing that people will read, react and link others to.
Nowhere in the article does it say that the Everton scout Brian King told them this story, only that he recommended to Everton to sign Haaland, that they spoke to the player but the deal went cold (they probably realized he wanted to go elsewhere).

 

[NicolaSacco]

United can absolutely match City.

E.g
Alexis Sanchez
Maguire
Pogba.

Chelsea also beat them with Jorginho's.

i guess it depends how you define ‘beat’. For example were they unable to match the Sanchez wages due to an internal wage ceiling, or did they simply not think it was a worthwhile deal. Difficult to know what the maximum wages each club would pay for a signing they were absolutely committed to. I’d imagine in that scenario (say it was Messi on 500k a week) it would be only City and Utd in England who would be able to match that.

 

[NinjaZombie]

Bearing in mind that us and City both don't really have a top starting centre forward, the move that makes the most sense is Manchester. Whether that is United or City is anyone's guess. I'm leaning towards him going to City to be honest, because I rate City's recruitment abilities more than ours.

 

[Dave Smith]

Bearing in mind that us and City both don't really have a top starting centre forward, the move that makes the most sense is Manchester. Whether that is United or City is anyone's guess. I'm leaning towards him going to City to be honest, because I rate City's recruitment abilities more than ours.

Chelsea need one a lot more as their AMs and CMs do not score enough. I think in the league Jorginho is their joint leading scorer with 6 penalties or something.

 

[Pow]

Chelsea need one a lot more as their AMs and CMs do not score enough. I think in the league Jorginho is their joint leading scorer with 6 penalties or something.

Yup. We need a striker in the summer. Looks like giroud and tammy will be leaving. Even if its not haaland we deffo need a striker.

 

[Trex]

I think Haaland so far has prioritized development and playing time when switching clubs, I don't see him going to city, Pep favors a Debruyne, Messi type star player, Haaland is more in the Cr7 mold, he'll be marginalised at city, He won't move here either Raiola doesn't fancy our project, Chelsea I feel most likely in England. Outside England I'll say Real or PSG. To stand any chance we'll have to throw a lot of money at Mino for this signing and Pogbas renewal, that's the only way Raiola would be convinced of our intent. That is very unlikely I think.