Manchester United are no longer looking to sign Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland after learning that the Norwegian has his heart set on a move to Real Madrid, according to reports in England.
The Red Devils have been pursuing the 21-year-old for the last two years, but they have decided to withdraw from the race and pursue other targets.
While fans on Twitter were resigned to losing out on Haaland anyway, they are glad that, despite links to Manchester City and Chelsea, it now appears he won’t end up at a Premier League rival:
Was out the race a long time ago.
— Dyl (@UtdDyl) January 21, 2022
We was never going to be in it anyway😭
— ZX🦅²⁸ (@SznWeigl) January 21, 2022
at least he’s not going to city
— 🇦🇺🇮🇹 (@utdben1) January 21, 2022
don’t really care
— 🇦🇺 (@samlutd) January 21, 2022
United were never in it in the first place.
— ONASTO 🇬🇭 (@Onasto_2) January 21, 2022
I mean we were never really in for him or even had a chance if we were so not really news just what we already knew
— Jamie (@jamieb16) January 21, 2022
As long as he don’t join city, it’s all good lol
— TheRonaldoShow (@TheRonaldoShoww) January 21, 2022
And his agent is mino, so steer clear. Good player but not worth the hassle
— Dan11 (@dan_g11) January 21, 2022
The massive rebuild that needs to take place at Old Trafford means that the club may lose out on some high-profile targets in the meantime. Players like to sign for teams where there is some stability but United are very much in a state of transition currently.
Hopefully, when a new permanent manager is appointed, and the direction of the club becomes clearer, it will help attract some big names once again.