Hans-Joachim Watzke has revealed Manchester United made a "better offer" than Borussia Dortmund for Erling Haaland - but Mino Raiola turned down a move to England to better the Norwegian's development.
Haaland joined Dortmund at the turn of 2020 from RB Salzburg, despite United's best attempts to convince him to move to Old Trafford.
The decision has worked - Haaland has hit 70 goals and 19 assists in 69 games to date in a quite ridiculous return since joining - and is already considered among the best strikers on the planet at the age of 21.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer worked hard to convince Haaland to choose Manchester instead, but according to Dortmund's chief executive Watzke, the promise of development at a club renowned in recent years for thrusting players to the top was more appealing than United's greater financial incentives.
Watzke told Sport1: "The offer from Manchester United was better. However Mino Raiola realised that Erling is better off with us.
"People notice that gifted people make a breakthrough with us the quickest. That is a resounding argument for the players, the parents of the players and the advisors. We have no inhibitions about letting 17-year-olds play."
Haaland's season so far has been somewhat damaged by injury, and there are concerns that he could even miss the rest of the year amid a hip flexor problem.
Bild has reported in recent days that Haaland has 'torn a muscle bundle in the hip flexor', which would leave him unable to feature in full training for at least six weeks.
Source : 90min