Ronaldo dropped? How Man Utd could line up with Erling Haaland next season

Stefan Bienkowski

11 Oct 2021 11:30 BST
5 min read

Erling Haaland during Dortmund's defeat to Freiburg in Bundesliga — © ProShots

Manchester United may have just stolen a lead on their continental rivals in the pursuit of Erling Haaland.

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According to the Daily Mirror, the Old Trafford side have reached a “mutual transfer agreement” with the Borussia Dortmund striker to make a move to England next season.

Such a deal would likely cost Man Utd around €90 million, which is widely regarded to be Haaland’s minimum-fee release clause at Dortmund.

However, while Man Utd fans may take great delight in the prospect of Haaland donning the red of their club, there is the small matter of trying to wedge the towering striker into this current squad.

So if Man Utd do manage to sign Haaland next summer, how would the Old Trafford side line up next season?

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A post shared by Erling Braut Haaland (@erling.haaland)

How would Man Utd line up with Haaland?

There’s little doubt that Haaland joining the Old Trafford side would be a seismic event in English football but it would also have profound consequences on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team too.

For example, as things currently stand the Premier League side have no less than three traditional No.9s in the form of Anthony Martial, Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo. And possibly a fourth in Marcus Rashford.

For Haaland to move to Man Utd, he would need assurances that he would become the club’s first choice No.9 going forward. Which would likely lead to Cavani and Martial leaving the club.

If Man Utd can get Ronaldo to step down from his throne, a front three of Jadon Sancho on the left, Rashford on the right and Haaland playing in front of Bruno Fernandes would make plenty of sense. But a lot of diplomacy would likely have to go right before that could happen.