Manchester United Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward is reportedly willing to scrap Red Devils' pursuit of Mario Mandzukic just to sign Erling Braut Haaland. In a recent report released by Express Sport, Manchester United has already talked to Mandzukic last summer for a possible move but it never materialized. Based on his career stats, the Juventus forward footballer has not played a single minute under Maurizio Sarri this season.
At present, Mario Mandzukic is not participating in first-team training to stay injury-free for a possible January transfer. Manchester United Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seems keen to include a forward player in his roster following the departure of Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku last summer. The current Juventus forward is experienced in the field and highly adaptable, but it appears that Ed Woodward is willing to drop the transfer, Goal reports.
Manchester United is now planning to launch a bid for Erling Braut Haaland and is willing to put all its eggs in the basket of the 19 years old Norwegian footballer. So far, Haaland has made seven goals in his four Champions League appearances for RB Salzburg. He also notched 15 in 12 Austrian top-flight. A couple of years ago, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave Haaland his break when he was with Molde and has reportedly sent Manchester United scouts to confirm his belief that the young star can make it to Old Trafford, according to Goal.
Even as he's about to become 33 years old. Let's have a look. Mario Mandzukic's career stats: • 476 games
• 188 goals
• 92 assists
• 130.3 minutes per goal contribution Criminally underrated. — Blueconcave (@AnyanwuSolace) August 3, 2019
A deal with Haaland might cost Manchester United £85million and will remove any excess cash that will be spent on Mario Mandzukic. There is a chance that Haaland will be loaned back to RB Salzburg for the remainder of the season, which will leave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer relying on his raw frontline. Meanwhile, Emile Heskey thinks that the experience of Mario Mandzukic will benefit the young stars of Manchester United.
Manchester United face competition from Borussia Dortmund for Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic as the Bundesliga club look to add goals to their side and arrest a terrible start to the season. https://t.co/wvFVe3jTIx pic.twitter.com/qo1NxDDdrs — Football Lab (@footblab) November 18, 2019
If Mandzukic moves to Manchester United, he might help Marcus Rashford in his task and can focus on what he is asked to do, to be a goal scorer Hersey shared to Express Sport. For now, it remains to be seen if Manchester United will drop its pursuit of Mario Mandzukic for Erling Braut Haaland. But, whatever the club's decision may be, it must be to reinforce the team to improve its performance and not simply because of hype.
