Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has been speaking about how he got Erling Haaland to join the club.
He told German outlet Sport1: “The offer from Manchester United was better. However Mino Raiola realised that Erling is better off with us.”
United legend Gary Neville has reacted to those comments on Twitter, with a dig at Raiola.
Neville has hit out at Raiola before over his management of Paul Pogba’s future.
Last December, while United were preparing for a Champions League decider against RB Leipzig, Raiola told the Italian press that Pogba was finished at United.
At the time, Neville said: “It’s happened many times before. However surely Paul knew he was making this announcement?
“If he wasn’t aware then we should see a quote from him very soon correcting his agent. Finally to do this ahead of Leipzig and the Manchester derby is terrible timing for the team.”
It is fair to say that the biggest barrier to United doing business with Dortmund over signing Haaland is Raiola.
The Pogba saga means that relations between Raiola and the club are strained, and a decision has to be made over whether it is worth engaging with him to get Haaland.
Haaland is as bright a young talent as there is anywhere in Europe right now, and his record is outstanding.
But even if United did get him, the chances are Raiola would be touting him around Europe and making noise about his future within no time.
January feels a long time away for United, given the current crisis at the club, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has work to do to ensure he is the manager by the time the transfer window next opens.
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