Mark Ogden discusses whether Man United will continue to look for Erling Haaland's signature next summer. (1:14).
Sources tell ESPN that Erling Haaland is Manchester United's top transfer target, even though the club has spent a lot to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus.
Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are all interested in Haaland. Haaland can trigger a release clause within his Borussia Dortmund contract at season's end, which is reportedly set to 75 million
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Although Ronaldo's deal was funded outside United's summer transfer budget, ESPN sources tell ESPN that it will not affect next year's recruitment plans or the ongoing effort to win Haaland.
United will pay a 15m initial payment for Ronaldo, with an additional 8m in additional payments over five-years. However, Old Trafford have had to make Ronaldo the highest-paid player in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad. This is despite sources claiming that he took a significant cut on his Juventus salary of 510,000 per week after taxes.
Sources claimed that Ronaldo left United in a 80m transfer to Madrid in 2009. The club couldn't turn down the chance to resign him, especially since it was clear that he was interested in a move to City.
Although United now has a lot of attacking options, the long-term goal of signing Haaland is not changing.
Manchester United has had Erling Haaland on their radar for some time. Photo by Lukas Schulze/Getty Images
United was close to signing the Norway international footballer from FC Salzburg in the 2019-20 winter transfer window. However, the player decided to move to Dortmund.
Although United sources claimed that the Haaland camp demanded a release clause in their agreement, contact was maintained with Haaland's representatives. Solskjaer's relationship to Haaland also has not been affected by this failure. (Haaland was a Solskjaer player when he made his senior debut for the Norwegian team Molde as a teenager.
United expect fierce competition to sign the player next season, with City's failure last month to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham increasing the likelihood that the Premier League champions will make a sustained effort to land Haaland.
Bayern consider Haaland the perfect long-term replacement to Robert Lewandowski. Sources have indicated that PSG are willing to make a move for the player in order to offset Kylian Mbappe's anticipated move to Madrid at the end of the season as a free agent.
Madrid will continue to be involved in the race, having saved Mbappe's transfer fee. His contract with PSG expires June 2022.
United believes they have the resources to win Haaland's race and Ronaldo's arrival could help them. Haaland is well-known for his admiration of United's new signing.
