Not Raiola, but United walked away from Haaland deal

It was not Erling Haaland's agent Mino Raiola who withdrew from a potential deal between him and Manchester United regarding the striker's transfer, but, it was United itself which decided to walk away.

As it has been reported by the English daily The Express, Raiola wanted a certain amount of money to be paid to him separately, apart from the transfer fees that United was supposed to pay and United didn’t agree to it.

The deal was eventually sealed by Borussia Dortmund which agreed to the terms and conditions put forward by Raiola and Haaland made the move to Germany from Austria where he was playing for Red Bull Salzburg.

The reason why United refused to pay any separate fees to Raiola was because they didn’t want the other agents to come to them with the same terms and conditions. They sent a clear message outside that they didn’t want to deal in that manner.

Raiola is someone who has had a mixed relationship with United. Sir Alex Ferguson was not happy with him when he had persuaded Paul Pogba out of Old Trafford in 2011 and he had cut ties with the agent ever since.

However, as Sir Alex retired and Ed Woodward took charge as the executive vice-chairman at United, Raiola started dealing with the club again and even after the failure of the Haaland deal, he has insisted that he would be willing to deal with United, if any such situation arises in future.

The United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was keen to invest in Haaland with the view that the striker would turn out to be a really special player for the Red Devils in the years to come.

However, it wasn’t to be, as the 19-year old is now going to ply his trade in the Bundesliga.

Featured Image Credits: The Sun