Red Bull Salzburg Sporting Director Denies Erling Haaland, RB Leipzig Clause
November 28, 2019
Red Bull Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund has denied there is an agreement in place to sell star forward Erling Haaland to Bundesliga club RB Leipzig.
Haaland has enjoyed an incredible 2019-20 season, excelling for his club in the Austrian Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League. Unsurprisingly, there has been speculation regarding a big-money move for the player, with Manchester United mentioned as possible suitors.
Leipzig have also been linked with Haaland, and reports have surfaced that there is a clause in place that would allow them to buy the striker for just £25.7 million. Speaking to Kicker (h/t Rich Jones of the Daily Mirror), Freund denied there was any such stipulation in place.
"There is no such clause, that is not an issue for us," he said. "We would never own any club a right of advance to any player. That was not the case in the past and will not be the case in the future."
It's been reported by Adam Crafton of The Athletic that the Red Devils are admirers of the Norwegian, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sending the club's top scout Simon Wells to keep tabs on the player.
At the moment, it would be a shock if United were the only team keeping an eye on the centre-forward.
Haaland started Wednesday's encounter on the bench, but he was able to make his mark with a poacher's finish in the 4-1 win:
There's a maturity in Haaland's play and approach to the game that suggests he is destined for the highest level, and it'll be intriguing to see what path he opts to take to the top.
Given the relationship between the Salzburg and Leipzig clubs—the likes of Naby Keita, Dayot Upamecano and Peter Gulacsi have joined the latter from the former previously—rumours regarding Haaland moving to the Bundesliga side are no surprise.
Per Squawka Football, in Timo Werner, Leipzig already boast a prolific centre-forward of their own:
However, there wouldn't appear to be an agreement in place that would make any transfer straightforward, meaning there will be a number of clubs in the hunt for Haaland.
United's interest is logical after they sold Romelu Lukaku in the summer and have yet to bring in a centre-forward to replace him. At the moment, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are sharing the load up top for the Red Devils.
Other high-profile interest will inevitably follow, although Haaland may be reluctant to move to a juggernaut and compromise his time on the field at such an early stage in his career.