Man Utd the ‘only serious bidder in Haaland poker’

Manchester United are reportedly leading the race to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund this summer.

Haaland has a release clause of £64million in his contract, with rumours of his next club filling coloumn inches for the last 18 months.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Chelsea and Man United have all been linked with the 21-year-old, who’s scored 76 goals in 74 games for Dortmund.

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Haaland’s agent, Mino Raiola, has consistently added fuel to the transfer fire, and last week named the clubs able to sign him, jibing United in the process.

Speaking to Sport1, Raiola said: “He can and will take the next step. Bayern, Real, Barcelona, City — those are the big clubs he can go to. City has won the championship five times in recent years, significantly more than United. We all knew when we moved to Dortmund that this step would come.”

Raiola’s comments will have been a blow for Ralf Rangnick, who is said to have spoken to the United board about potentially signing Haaland.

But the German boss may take solace in a report by SportBild (via Sport Witness), which claims Rangnick’s side have stolen a march on the competition in a bid to sign the Norwegian.

The report runs through Haaland’s potential destinations and rules Chelsea out after they signed Romelu Lukaku in the summer, points to Real Madrid’s interest in Kylian Mbappe to disregard them, claims Bayern won’t move for Haaland while Robert Lewandowski remains, states that Pep Guardiola’s City dream is still Harry Kane, and says Barcelona don’t have the funds.

Haaland could replace Mbappe at PSG, but the report claims a move to Paris ‘would only be an alternative’ for him.

That leaves United – the ‘only serious bidder in Haaland poker’.

While speculation will continue over the winter, Raiola insisted the decision will not be made any time soon.

“We will tell BVB [Borussia Dortmund] what our idea is and BVB will tell us their ideas. But no decision will be made in the winter.

“He is someone who wants to develop, who is looking for new challenges. And of course it’s also a question of the alternative. You only change if you have a better alternative.”