Manchester United have set sights on signing Erling Haaland this summer, The MEN report.
It is claimed manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and director of football John Murtough are both in agreement that Haaland should be United’s top striker option.
A deal won’t be easy. Negotiating with Borussia Dortmund was beyond United last summer for Jadon Sancho. Haaland’s release clause does not kick in until 2022.
So there will be a very high fee required to do a deal. Just how high, depends on how greedy Dortmund want to be and how desperate they are for cash due to the pandemic. Their ideal scenario is a bidding war between clubs.
Haaland is so talented that anything under £100 million will seem cheap.
Haaland wants big wages
The MEN claim Haaland wants £350,000 per week in wages. This is a steep figure which should not put United off.
United’s wage bill will lose reserve goalkeepers Sergio Romero and Joel Pereira this summer. The biggest saving could come with David de Gea.
De Gea earns a staggering £375,000 per week, and at present its debatable whether he should even be first choice. Dean Henderson earns a third of his salary and is playing at just as high a level.
It should be a no-brainer to cash in on the Spaniard, raise a small fee, and thank him for his service and move on, while creating wage space to do a deal for Haaland.
There are other savings too, with Edinson Cavani unlikely to be retained if United sign Haaland. He earns around £200,000 per week. Juan Mata is also likely to be released.
A deal to cash in on Jesse Lingard too could also cut the wage bill further, while the unclear situation over Paul Pogba’s contract could quite easily see the Frenchman moved on.
So even with a deal to sign Haaland, United’s wage bill could be significantly reduced this summer. On top of paying a big transfer fee, cutting the salary bill will become a must, and this is achievable.
De Gea could hold the key, with a fee raised and substantial salary space cut. The same applies to Pogba, but United are worse off without the Frenchman so should try to retain him.
The same can’t be said of De Gea. If United sell the Spaniard and just switch in Dean Henderson, while adding Erling Haaland to the XI, the Red Devils become a far stronger team than at present.
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