Fabrizio Romano reveals Erling Haaland snubbed Manchester City rivals prior to Borussia Dortmund move

Manchester City talisman Erling Haaland was close to joining rivals Manchester United when deciding over his next club in 2020, according to a new report.

The Norwegian has made a blistering start to life in England after joining Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund for a reported fee of £51 million in the summer.

City spent months chasing the Leeds-born striker's signature after failing to secure the arrival of Harry Kane from Tottenham last year.

City were heavily linked with a swoop for Harry Kane last summer (Alamy)

City were amongst a host of clubs interested in the 22-year-old's signature last summer, but it is believed Borussia Dortmund made it clear to Haaland he was going nowhere at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.

As Sergio Aguero joined Barcelona on a free transfer, the Premier League champions were keen on bringing Harry Kane to the Etihad Stadium as a replacement for their greatest ever goalscorer.

However, Manchester City's reluctance to match Tottenham's asking price for the England captain - understood to be around £150 million - saw a potential move break down towards the end of the summer transfer window.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (Alamy)

Pep Guardiola and his troops began the 2021/22 season in the absence of a recognised striker in the first-team squad and were left with even slimmer options down the middle following the January departure of Ferran Torres to Barcelona.

However, a false nine system that worked wonders the season before worked a treat once again as the Blues retained the Premier League title for the second time under Guardiola.

Falling just short on the European front against eventual Champions League winners Real Madrid, City decided to move early this summer and win the race to sign arguably the most in-demand finisher in world football.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola with Erling Haaland (Alamy)

City announced an agreement in principle with Dortmund over the signing of Erling Haaland days before a 5-1 thrashing of Wolves in their title run-in.

The Blues made serious strides to follow the capture of Haaland and Julian Alvarez - with Stefan Ortega, Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez and Manuel Akanji all joining in before deadline day.

The tale could have been written very differently had one of City's domestic rivals managed to acquire Haaland when he was moving clubs in January 2020.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tried to bring Erling Haaland to Manchester United in 2020 (Alamy)

According to the latest information provided by Fabrizio Romano in his latest column on Caught Offside, Haaland was close to sealing a sensational switch to Manchester United during his time at Red Bull Salzburg.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United manager at the time, attempted to convince his compatriot to join hands with him at Old Trafford as Haaland looked for the ideal next step to continue his rapid progression.

Despite interest from Manchester United and Juventus, Haaland decided to head to Dortmund with a belief that a move to the Signal Iduna Park would help him maintain his rise as one of the most promising forwards across the globe.

At the end of a successful two-and-a-half spell in Germany, Haaland moved to City and has since been scoring goals for fun for the club he grew up supporting.