New Man Utd boss Ralf Rangnick wanted to sign Haaland as he "suited his style"
Incoming Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick revealed last year that he wanted to sign Erling Haaland but was unable to because he would not have made the starting XI.
Rangnick, 63, is set to become United's new interim manager after agreeing a six-month deal to take over until the end of the season.
The deal is pending approval from the German's current club Lokomotiv Moscow, where he is head of sports and development, but that is not expected to be an issue.
The former RB Leipzig and Schalke boss is known as the father of gegenpressing and heads to Old Trafford with a lofty reputation, having influenced the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel.
Unlike United, the veteran boss has an impressive record in the transfer market, picking up rough diamonds and polishing them into superstars.
During his time at RB Salzburg, the Austrian club signed the likes of Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Takumi Minamino, all of whom went on to be sold on for profit.
Salzburg, who are part of the same ownership model as Leipzig, also signed a certain Haaland from Molde in January 2019.
The Norwegian superstar proceeded to score 29 goals in just 27 games for the Austrian outfit, attracting attention from a host of European big guns.
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Salzburg are no strangers to selling to Leipzig, but Haaland bucked the trend by moving to Borussia Dortmund instead for a reported fee of £19million (€22.5million).
It was a huge coup for Dortmund – but represented a missed opportunity for Leipzig, who were then managed by Julian Nagelsmann following Rangnick's move into an executive role in the wider Red Bull group.
The former Leipzig sporting director Rangnick told MDR: "From everything I know about him and his dad, the main reason he moved there was that Dortmund could guarantee him a regular place".
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"That wasn’t so difficult because they didn’t have a central striker apart from Paco Alcacer, who is half the size of Haaland and gets injured quickly and regularly.
"It was a great shame that he is the first player that RB Leipzig, since reaching the Bundesliga, have missed out on from Salzburg. What a shame it is for Leipzig, he would have suited us, our team and our style of play."
"Maybe with Alexander Sorloth, a Haaland Mk II will arrive at Leipzig."
Not quite. While Haaland has gone on to become one of the world's most feared marksman, Crystal Palace reject Sorloth has managed six goals and three assists in 37 games for Leipzig.
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