Erling Haaland

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Pexbo

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Considering City will sign a replacement for Aguero, I’d love it if it was Kane and we managed to get Haaland and we had a real Premier League rivalry again.
 

Adisa

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Haaland is actually great with his back to the goal. And his first touch is solid. The only real comparison to Lukaku is that they are both big and powerful.

We actually create a lot of chances in most games, but some days our strikers can't hit the side of a barn.
When I compare him to Lukaku, I don't mean in terms of first touch or being clumsy. I am talking in terms of positions they love to take on the pitch and how they want the ball fed to them. Imo, they are similar.
He might be decent with his back to goal but I don't think he's great. Don't even think he's as good as Martial in that area for example despite being the much better striker. It's not his game.
Lastly I completely disagree about us creating plenty. I think our forwards are always under more pressure because we don't create that many, relative to other top clubs. And it's not even just the chances, we don't create enough high pressure situations.
Until the entire team improves I don't think there's a striker that can come in and bang goals left right and centre.
 

Pexbo

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When I compare him to Lukaku, I don't mean in terms of first touch or being clumsy. I am talking in terms of positions they love to take on the pitch and how they want the ball fed to them. Imo, they are similar.
He might be decent with his back to goal but I don't think he's great. Don't even think he's as good as Martial in that area for example despite being the much better striker. It's not his game.
Lastly I completely disagree about us creating plenty. I think our forwards are always under more pressure because we don't create that many, relative to other top clubs. And it's not even just the chances, we don't create enough high pressure situations.
Until the entire team improves I don't think there's a striker that can come in and bang goals left right and centre.
He’s much more clinical and varied with his finishing than Lukaku is, he’s also more proactive in his movement and uses his strength far more effectively. One of the most frustrating things about Lukaku for me is despite his size and strength he just has no idea how to exploit it and more often than not concedes a foul because he’s clumsy with his feet or arms or times his jump badly and impedes rather than compete for the ball.
 

groovyalbert

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I agree. And the result has been spectacular for them.

he’s more sought after now, and will command a far higher salary, and bonuses for everyone involved than If he went to United first.

Dortmund were a stepping stone, they have enabled him to develop.

as you say, when he left Salzburg he wouldn’t have been a nailed in starter at United.

the mapping out of his career has gone better than planned.
Problem/reality is, given our recent success/current transition period/realistic expectations for the next few seasons, we are closer to Dortmund's level in regards to the on-field success we can offer him, and nowhere near clubs like City/Bayern/PSG who will be competing for and winning the top prizes over the next 10 years.

I think he would see coming to Utd as a sideways career step currently in regards to the footballing side of things. I think we missed out on our opportunity to convince him to come here.
 
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Problem/reality is, given our recent success/current transition period/realistic expectations for the next few seasons, we are closer to Dortmund's level in regards to the on-field success we can offer him, and nowhere near clubs like City/Bayern/PSG who will be competing for and winning the top prizes over the next 10 years.

I think he would see coming to Utd as a sideways career step currently in regards to the footballing side of things. I think we missed out on our opportunity to convince him to come here.
disagree. That doesn’t mean he will come to United, as he’s the pick of a dozen clubs over the next 18 months.

Dortmund buy players with the expectation from both the player and the club that they will move on to a bigger and better team. That’s why they sign players like Bellingham, Haaland, and Sancho.

that’s nothing like United.
 

groovyalbert

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disagree. That doesn’t mean he will come to United, as he’s the pick of a dozen clubs over the next 18 months.

Dortmund buy players with the expectation from both the player and the club that they will move on to a bigger and better team. That’s why they sign players like Bellingham, Haaland, and Sancho.

that’s nothing like United.
Weren't we in for all of those players at the same time though? And they all chose Dortmund over us. It doesn't exactly paint a great picture for Utd/career prospects in coming here for young players - especially the Bellingham decision.

My point is, we are no longer seen as "the bigger and better team" that players will choose to move on to from clubs like Dortmund. I think the way in which we've held on to DDG a few years ago and Pogba recently offers another red flag to players considering us as an option.

If we can't offer guaranteed on-field success (which we can't and won't be able to for a good few seasons yet), we have to change our approach to how we hold on to world-class/potentially world-class players. Otherwise they're simply never going to come here.
 

red4ever 79

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Imagine being a player and having to choose between Man Utd and Man city when you are a fan of neither. If you are looking at it from a neutral perspective it's a no brainer. Imagine having the opportunity to work under Pep and play in a team that creates chances galore. As much as it pains me to say but it's not really a difficult choice. People on here saying that Ole worked with him at Molde and is Norwegian- this makes no difference.
 

Smores

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Imagine being a player and having to choose between Man Utd and Man city when you are a fan of neither. If you are looking at it from a neutral perspective it's a no brainer. Imagine having the opportunity to work under Pep and play in a team that creates chances galore. As much as it pains me to say but it's not really a difficult choice. People on here saying that Ole worked with him at Molde and is Norwegian- this makes no difference.
People don't always make the right decision. Think that's our best hope really :lol:
 

groovyalbert

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Imagine being a player and having to choose between Man Utd and Man city when you are a fan of neither. If you are looking at it from a neutral perspective it's a no brainer. Imagine having the opportunity to work under Pep and play in a team that creates chances galore. As much as it pains me to say but it's not really a difficult choice. People on here saying that Ole worked with him at Molde and is Norwegian- this makes no difference.
Only reason why players have chosen us over City in recent years is because we were willing to outbid them. We're no longer able to do that.
 
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Weren't we in for all of those players at the same time though? And they all chose Dortmund over us. It doesn't exactly paint a great picture for Utd/career prospects in coming here for young players - especially the Bellingham decision.

My point is, we are no longer seen as "the bigger and better team" that players will choose to move on to from clubs like Dortmund. I think the way in which we've held on to DDG a few years ago and Pogba recently offers another red flag to players considering us as an option.

If we can't offer guaranteed on-field success (which we can't and won't be able to for a good few seasons yet), we have to change our approach to how we hold on to world-class/potentially world-class players. Otherwise they're simply never going to come here.
im sure we weren’t in for Sancho when he left city.

Dortmund can offer a stepping stone to a player.

from Bellingham’s perspective, he’s more likely to get the game time needed, in a less demanding league, and then make a more to a big club in a couple of years.

it’s why every good youngster doesn’t go to one of the big clubs straight off of the bat.

then look at someone like Odegaard going to Madrid. He was never going to get first team football there, and has a succession of loans as a result.

going to a smaller team first would likely have been a far better career move.

No club gets every player they want. There’s always lots of competition.

would Bellingham have made 35 appearances for United so far this season? Very unlikely.

we often can’t offer players the best route for their careers, given the size and expectation of the club. That’s a reality that we have to accept.

We don’t need/ want to be collecting youngsters and ruining their careers like Chelsea.
 

Plant0x84

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Erling himself has said he will go to a club that “wants him”. United missed him when he signed for both Red Bull and Dortmund. Our interest has been constant.
Also I think his closeness to Ole is a plus for us too. There’s something about the rye smile Ole has when asked about Haaland, and his ‘ let’s wait and see’ answers - feels like Ole is one step ahead of the rest of us.
probably reading to much into it, but I think when Ole signs his contract in the summer and we have secured CL I think the pieces fall into place and whether it’s this summer or next when the clause kicks in, I feel we will see Haaland in a United shirt.
 

red4ever 79

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Only reason why players have chosen us over City in recent years is because we were willing to outbid them. We're no longer able to do that.
If you look at it from a player's perspective, Haaland comes across as the type of player who is ambitious, wants to win big prized. No one can dispute he has a much better chance to win trophies in the next few years at City. That's a fact.
 

Pep's Suit

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If Haaland joins City he knows he can be their No.1 striker for next 10 years. But City signing a Raiola player... I don't know. Still think he will stay for another year (if Dortmund qualify for CL) and then join Real.
 

groovyalbert

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Why aren't we?
FFP out the window.

Pandemic has impacted us far worse than City from a business perspective.

Clear change in tactic from our board/owners regarding fees and wages.

im sure we weren’t in for Sancho when he left city.

Dortmund can offer a stepping stone to a player.

from Bellingham’s perspective, he’s more likely to get the game time needed, in a less demanding league, and then make a more to a big club in a couple of years.

it’s why every good youngster doesn’t go to one of the big clubs straight off of the bat.

then look at someone like Odegaard going to Madrid. He was never going to get first team football there, and has a succession of loans as a result.

going to a smaller team first would likely have been a far better career move.

No club gets every player they want. There’s always lots of competition.

would Bellingham have made 35 appearances for United so far this season? Very unlikely.

we often can’t offer players the best route for their careers, given the size and expectation of the club. That’s a reality that we have to accept.

We don’t need/ want to be collecting youngsters and ruining their careers like Chelsea.
I understand all this, but my point is we simply aren't seen as a step-up in terms of guaranteed on-field success/having the opportunity to compete for leagues and CL titles. We are closer to Dortmund than City in that regard, and arguably Dortmund are ahead of us given they're more likely to qualify for CL on a regular basis.

With this in mind, and as you said, we have to alter how we sell ourselves to top up-coming talent/be prepared to let these players go if we fail to win trophies/regularly compete. Unfortunately, I don't think this is something our board will ever be prepared to do as it highlights their inability to deliver/how far we're falling.
 

theklr

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Only way he choses us over City is if he appriciate the lure of beeing the player that brought an old behemoth back to its rightful place - just imagine how big his status would be.

And I think he might be the kind of guy that appreciate a challenge like that, instead of riding a sterile oilbacked train to effortless PL trophies. CL is really the only challenge left for them , and by the looks of it they sadly might do that already this year.

Think he also knows how huge United is in terms of history and global appeal compared to City, which could also factor in.
For all the "Ole previous coach" talk, I definately see that Pep's strict and authoritative way of coaching could be a little opposite of how Haaland is as a player/person.

All of this might/probably be just wishful thinking from my part though.

But I disagree with the notion that we couldnt afford him if we got the chance. The Glazers and Woodward knows the commercial value of bringing a player like that into the club, and if we didnt buy anyone else we could afford it.
 

groovyalbert

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How so? What have I missed?

Appreciate COVID has impacted on everyone.
City aren't as reliant on the success of their business operations to generate profit which would then enables them to spend in the transfer market as we are.

Both City and Chelsea can rely on their owners' extreme wealth to bank-roll them through the pandemic in a way we can't. And with FFP gone, there's not really much to stop these owners from doing what they want.
 

TheReligion

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City aren't as reliant on the success of their business operations to generate profit which would then enables them to spend in the transfer market as we are.

Both City and Chelsea can rely on their owners' extreme wealth to bank-roll them through the pandemic in a way we can't. And with FFP gone, there's not really much to stop these owners from doing what they want.
So are you just speculating that it's hit United badly and we can no longer compete in a post covid market then?
 

Le Red

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If Haaland wants to play for Pep, he'd better remember he's the guy who couldn't fit Ibrahimovic on his team and routinely benched Lewandowsky and Aguero, the latter much more so.
He doesn't like center forwards, period.
 

Pow

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If Haaland wants to play for Pep, he'd better remember he's the guy who couldn't fit Ibrahimovic on his team and routinely benched Lewandowsky and Aguero, the latter much more so.
He doesn't like center forwards, period.
This is why the way kane plays now suits them far more.
 
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To be fair, if Haaland wanted a move to City, why would he employ Raiola?
world class player wants world class agent, and Haaland knows he usually gets exactly what the player wants.

lots of bluster gets said, but I don’t seriously think he wouldn’t do a deal with City.
 

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Not looking good for City
It’s incredible how this jumped up fecking idiot can talk about clubs like this and footballers still feel the need to employ him.

I’ve said it a million times, any player with half a brain doesn’t need these leaches.

If clubs got together and collectively agreed to exclude doing business with Raiola he would be fecked overnight. That’s what they should do. It would only take 3 or 4 top sides to ban him and the majority of big name players would avoid him.
 

SATA

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What i see is, we will buy Sancho and Erling will stay with BVB for another year. City and Pep will probably buy another striker from La Liga as Aguero’s replacement. It’ll be between us, Real and likely Chelsea at a push (if Werner flops) in 2022 for Haaland
 

George the Cat

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To be fair, if Haaland wanted a move to City, why would he employ Raiola?
Why do they employ Agents at all?
They‘re utterly pointless. Didn’t Scholes just use an accountant and Keane a Lawyer with contracts?
Get rid of the Agent and they aren’t leeching huge sums of money off them either.
 

pocco

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It’s incredible how this jumped up fecking idiot can talk about clubs like this and footballers still feel the need to employ him.

I’ve said it a million times, any player with half a brain doesn’t need these leaches.

If clubs got together and collectively agreed to exclude doing business with Raiola he would be fecked overnight. That’s what they should do. It would only take 3 or 4 top sides to ban him and the majority of big name players would avoid him.
I think it's certain characters which are drawn to him. Mainly the "billy big bollocks" type, which Raiola's attitude reflects. Haaland very much is this type of player.

I rate Haaland as a player but, to me, I find him really dislikeable, plus he has the most punchable face I've ever seen.
 

theklr

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Don't know why anybody would want us to get in bed with that w*nker again anyway. Makes me laugh how everyone is up in arms over Raiola on here then when he gets a new shiny toy it's all suddenly forgotten.
Not possibly getting the best striker the next 5 years which could make us into real title challengers because of who his agent is sounds like a sensible decision :/
 
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