Manchester United are about to face striker who refused to follow Erik ten Hag to Old Trafford
Man Utd face Borussia Dortmund in their sixth pre-season game on Monday, and one player who may have been playing for the Reds had
things turned out differently
Manchester United are about to face their sixth pre-season friendly – and a reunion is in store for manager Erik ten Hag.
The Reds boss arrived at Old Trafford a year ago from Ajax, where Borussia Dortmund forward Sebastien Haller played for him. Ten Hag revived the Ivory Coast international’s career following a difficult spell in the Premier League at West Ham.
Haller signed for the Dutch club for a club-record fee of €22.5million (£18.8m) in January 2021, scoring 47 goals and provided 16 assists in 66 games.
Those enviable numbers would provide United with exactly the sort of firepower they are looking for themselves in the summer transfer window this year, but Haller previously revealed he would not be following Ten Hag to M16.
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With transfer speculation about his own future rife last summer, Haller denied that he was set to leave Ajax. “Of course, there is interest from clubs. But I always say: interest is something different than an offer and a transfer is something else,” he told Dutch outlet NOS.
When pressed to answer about the possibility of following Ten Hag’ Haller replied: “No I won’t follow him. I feel good here at the club and in the city.” Haller would of course go on to join Dortmund for a fee of €31m.
With United now looking to sign a forward this summer, they may be left rueing Haller’s decision.
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The transfer window is in full swing and United have already got their hands on two players, with Mason Mount and Andre Onana through the door at Old Trafford and Rasmus Hojlund set to follow.
Our team of United experts will be on top of all the goings-on at United for the remainder of the summer window and beyond, and you can get the latest updates and inside information to your phone by joining our new free WhatsApp community below.
