Despite the teenage striker having a previous relationship with Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer he rather chose to be part of Dortmund in January.
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince has criticised the Old Trafford outfit for allowing Erling Haaland to “slip thru the net” during the January transfer window.
Nineteen-year-old striker Haaland signed for Borussia Dortmund early in the winter window regardless of interest from United in the Norwegian sensation.
Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer managed the forward for the duration of his time at Molde and there was hope that their relationship could persuade the youngster to make a move to the Theatre of Dreams.
But in the cease United walked away from the transfer and Haaland moved from Red Bull Salzburg to Germany , the place he has scored 12 goals in eleven matches for Dortmund.
And Ince believes the call to not pay the forward’s €20 million (£17m/$22m) release clause is one United should not have made.
“If they want to close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool then they want a world class striker,” the ex- England international told Goal.
“They had the chance with Haaland, the young kid who went to Dortmund, that was sad really. He is a very, very excellent young player who can enhance and you can’t let people like that slip through the net.
“That was disappointing that they couldn’t get him. They have got to have someone in who gets 20-25 goals a season.”
Solskjaer has overseen a change in United’s transfer strategy on account that he took charge in March 2019, with the Norwegian focusing on including younger players into his squad.
But Ince believes there needs to be a stability between youth and experience as United plan their subsequent batch of additions.
“There are players who Ole will nonetheless feel should not be there next year. There will be extra players leaving and more coming in,” Ince, who is a Paddy Power Ambassador said.
“I suppose you have to get the proper balance.
You can’t continually go too young. You need a proper stability of experience and youth and there is nonetheless a long way to go to match Manchester City and Liverpool.
“They are going in the right path and the faster they bring in those players then the faster that is achieved.”
Solskjaer is hoping for three signings when the transfer window re-opens, with a midfielder and forward players the priority, and Ince agrees that is the place United need to be focusing their efforts.
“They want some other midfield player for sure. We don’t know what takes place with [Paul] Pogba if he stays or goes.
That’s some other saga that we will have to go through once the season finishes.
They need two strikers, I know [Marcus] Rashford is coming again however he is only young. You can’t rely on him all the time.
“Martial, for me on his day, is outstanding however he doesn’t have enough of those days.
Ighalo is the wrong end of 30. He has done properly however you won’t pin your hat on him for the next 4 years.
“If you look at all the top teams, all the best teams have the pleasant strikers. Their strikers have 20-25 goals in a bad season.
Manchester United lost that in [Romelu] Lukaku. That’s got to be their fundamental aim.”
