Raiola reveals why Haaland rejected Man Utd for Dortmund in 2020
Stefan Bienkowski
- 9 Dec 2021 17:40 GMT
- 5 min read
The agent of Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland has revealed how the club managed to convince the Norwegian striker to make the move to the Bundesliga club in 2020.
Haaland made the move to Dortmund in January 2020 from Red Bull Salzburg for a reported €20 million and famously turned down offers from RB Leipzig and Manchester United at the time.
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Since then, Haaland has established himself as one of European football’s most remarkable talents with no less than 74 goals and 19 assists in just 72 games for the German giants.
As such, the player is currently valued at €103 million and if reports about a release-clause come to fruition in the summer, Haaland could leave Dortmund for as little as €70m.
However, before all of that comes to pass, the player’s agent revealed why Haaland picked Dortmund in the first place.
'Dortmund had the balls at the time'
“I am a car fan. When you have to choose between a Mercedes S63 AMG or an Audi RS6, it's difficult, isn't it? Both are good cars,” said Mino Raiola in an interview with Sport1.
“Erling was faced with the decision at the time. And [Michael] Zorc clearly showed the advantages of his S63 AMG over the RS6.
“He sold the club in such a way that Erling said, ‘This is where I see myself. This is where I can develop.’
“BVB has developed enormously. It can be an example for the international football world. The Dortmunders bring in absolute super talents.
“They had the balls at the time to bring in someone like Erling, who is still quite unknown but still costs a lot of money.
“Haaland, [Jude] Bellingham, [Jadon] Sancho, those are big investments that pay off. If you had hesitated for a year, you would never have been able to get these players.
“Now everyone looks appreciatively at Dortmund and says: ‘They're doing it right.’ The German Bundesliga is not exactly famous for its high salaries, but for bringing in the best talent.”
