Erling Haaland is officially a Borussia Dortmund player - now how many Manchester United fans saw that coming?

The Norwegian had purportedly spent months flirting with the idea of moving to Old Trafford, even meeting with compatriot Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Red Devils looked all set to launch a January offensive, before Dortmund confirmed on Sunday that they had signed him for just £18million.

It represents a huge bargain for a striker already being compared to Kylian Mbappe.

During his solitary year with RB Salzburg, Haaland has risen to global prominence thanks to his exploits in the Champions League, where he's scored eight goals this season.

Before United fans roll out the 'never fancied him anyway' lines, it was far more than just an innocuous rumour linking the two parties.

The club first made their interests known months ago and several journalists have now confirmed that talks were held, but ultimately broke down over the finer details of a contract.

The Guardian's Manchester football correspondent Jamie Jackson and ESPN'S Rob Dawson have both elaborated on why a deal couldn't be reached with United.

The first reason was agent demands - inevitably, that means Mino Raiola.

ESPN's report goes into further detail, claiming Raiola encouraged Haaland to go to Germany but said the final decision was up to the player and his father.

Solskjaer and the board have been so encouraged by the performances of Mason Greenwood that they felt they would be better off investing the money in other parts of their squad.

Further putting off United was the fact that the 19-year-old's father - Alf-Inge Haaland, he of having his leg broken by Roy Keane fame - wanted a cut of any future sale.

The former Manchester City midfielder once said: "I really dislike United and I can't stand their players." He's now got his revenge, it would seem.

The Haaland party also wanted a buyout clause - reportedly as low as €50 million - inserted into any prospective contract. United were not willing to agree.

Intriguingly, all that would suggest that Dortmund have acquiesced to those requests. Does that mean the striker has a buyout clause?

If so, Europe's top clubs could be hovering around him for quite some time yet even now he has put pen to paper. This might not be the end of the saga after all - even for United.

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