Erling Haaland was never close to Manchester United move

Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol has revealed that Erling Haaland always wanted to play in Germany and he was never close to joining Manchester United last month.

The Norway international was heavily fancied to join the Red Devils in early December but ultimately, he made the switch to the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund.

Since then, there have been questions raised as to why United could not lure the striker but Solhekol has now disclosed that the teenager made the decision to head to Germany a long time ago.

"He told me that United had no chance of signing Haaland. He said he had known the striker since he was a five-year-old boy and it had always been his dream to play in Germany," he said after speaking with Haaland's former agent.

Haaland has made a blistering start to his career in the German top-flight and he has netted seven goals from just three appearances - with only one of those being from the starting lineup.

United, meanwhile, have failed to find the net for three league games on the bounce but they will be hoping for better results with the loan signing of Odion Ighalo from Shanghai Shenhua.