Manchester United and Juventus head a queue of more than 20 clubs monitoring the progress of Erling Braut Haaland, with Red Bull Salzburg open to selling him in the summer.
The Juventus sporting director, Fabio Paratici, was keen to sign Haaland from Molde in the summer of 2018 and was ready to offer €6m but the teenager was reluctant to join a side where he would sit on the bench or be loaned out.
United have been aware of Haaland’s ability for a long time, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær and the player working together for two seasons at Molde in 2017 and 2018. United have scouted the 19-year-old on several occasions but they and Juve will face competition from, among others, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, all of whom have scouted him recently. In total more than 20 clubs have watched the young Norwegian.
Haaland joined Salzburg from Molde in January and has scored a remarkable 23 goals in 20 appearances for the Austrian side. This season he has 22 goals in 15 games, including six in the Champions League, making him the top scorer in the competition, one ahead of Robert Lewandowski.
His value has increased with each goal this season and stands at around €40m (£34.5m). Salzburg bought him for around €9m in January but the club expect that they will be able to sell him for more than €60m in the summer.
They are hoping that he will have a season similar to that of Luka Jovic with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2018-19, when the Serb scored 27 goals in 48 games. The Bundesliga club signed Jovic on a two-year loan from Benfica with an obligatory €5m buyout clause before selling him to Real Madrid for €60m last summer.
Napoli have also made contact with Haaland’s representatives, before and after his Champions League hat-trick against Genk, but were told that nothing will happen before the end of the season when Salzburg will put a value on him and see whether anyone is prepared to match it orwhether there is an auction to sign him.
