Erling Haaland ruled out Manchester United as a possible destination this summer as he believed they could not match his ambitions, according to reports.
The 21-year-old has now agreed to sign for Manchester City with the Premier League champions ready to pay his €75m (£64.2m) release clause.
It’s believed that the total cost of the deal for City will be in excess of £200m, with Haaland signing a five-year deal worth around up to £400,000 a week including bonuses.
Haaland has established himself as one of Europe’s leading strikers having scored 85 goals in 88 games for Borussia Dortmund since joining the Bundesliga side in December 2019.
United were in the running to sign Haaland ahead of Dortmund, with Solskjaer keen on bringing the striker who he managed at Molde to Old Trafford.
However, the Red Devils’ struggles this season ruled them out of the race with City and Real Madrid to sign Haaland this summer.
According to The Telegraph, United had kept up their interest in Haaland but the player felt the club could not match his ambitions and had made joining a ‘sporting project’ his main priority.
The report also claims that the change in ownership at Chelsea, plus the club’s restrictions after Roman Abramovich’s sanction, ended their hope of landing Haaland ahead of Man City.
Meanwhile, reports in Spain claim that Madrid passed up the chance to sign Haaland this summer as they turned down a request from the striker’s representatives to have a €150 million (£128.5m) release clause included in his contract.
Elsewhere, Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp has claimed that Haaland’s transfer to City ‘will set new levels’.
‘I signed a new contract knowing that City will not stop developing. So it’s not about City to define if we can be happy or not, it’s about us,’ Klopp told Sky Sports.
‘If Erling Haaland goes there, it will not weaken them. Definitely not.
‘I know in the moment a lot of other people will talk about money, but this transfer will set new levels, let me say it like this.’
