Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s rebuilding plans at Manchester United have suffered a setback after it was announced on Sunday that one of his leading January transfer targets, Norway striker Erling Haaland, has joined Borussia Dortmund.

Haaland has signed a 4½-year contract with Dortmund that ties him to the Bundesliga club until June 2024.

The 19-year-old was a principal target for Solskjaer but United are understood to have been unwilling to meet certain conditions of a proposed deal in addition to triggering the €20 million (£17.1m) buyout clause in his Salzburg contract.

It is believed that Mino Raiola, Haaland’s agent, and the player’s father, Alf Inge Haaland, the former Manchester City, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest midfielder, stand to benefit from a percentage of any future sale under the terms of a buy-out clause, conditions United sources say they were unwilling to accept. It is understood United were concerned that would have meant ceding some control of any potential sell-on to Haaland’s representatives, which paved the way for Dortmund to buy him.

Solskjaer flew to Salzburg to meet with Haaland earlier this month in the hope of tying up a deal but the player, who worked under the United manager for 18 months at Molde, has decided his interests will be best served by a move to Germany from Austria. Red Bull Leipzig and Juventus were among Haaland’s other suitors.