Paul Ince has criticised his former club Man Utd for not getting a deal done to sign Erling Haaland before he opted for a move to Borussia Dortmund.
The 19-year-old has had a stunning season thus far across spells with Dortmund and RB Salzburg, scoring 40 goals and providing nine assists in just 33 appearances.
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As noted by the Sun, Haaland was heavily linked with United prior to sealing his move to the Bundesliga, and that inability to land his signature to take him to Old Trafford has evidently left Ince frustrated by his old club’s missed opportunity.
“If they want to close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool then they need a world class striker,” he told Goal. “They had the chance with Haaland, the young kid who went to Dortmund, that was sad really. He is a very, very good young player who can improve 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.”
The impact of Haaland’s form for Dortmund will surely see his valuation now sky-rocket, which in turn will perhaps make it more difficult for United to sign him in the future if they still hold an interest in him.
In turn, it’s easy to see why Ince is critical of their inability to get a deal done in January, as although their form has improved significantly in recent times, they will arguably still need to address the issue in the summer.
Marcus Rashford has been sidelined for some time with a back injury, putting pressure on Anthony Martial to deliver while Mason Greenwood is still developing at senior level.
With that in mind, Haaland would have arguably been an ideal signing for Man Utd to solve Ince’s issue with the current squad in terms of not having a prolific striker, but time will now tell if they get another chance to take Haaland to Manchester in the future.