Erling Haaland: Family links to Man City are a worry, admits Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes believes Manchester City have the edge over Manchester United in the race for Erling Haaland given his family history in the blue half of the city.

Haaland's dad, Alf-Inge, represented City as well as Leeds during his time in England, two of United's biggest rivals.

Scholes believes those associations could be 'strong' in deciding where Dortmund star Haaland goes next - although he remains hopeful United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can play on his relationship with the player from their days at Molde.

'You have to think about his dad as well with the City link,' Scholes told talkSPORT 2. 'That could be strong in this situation.

'But let's see. Fingers crossed, if he does move, that he comes to the red side of Manchester.'

Scholes believes United are in desperate need of reinforcements at centre forward this summer and 20-year-old Haaland represents the 'perfect' option for Solskjaer.

United missed out on him in January 2020 when he was being shopped around by Red Bull Salzburg and he has since gone on to elevate his value to the £150million mark at Dortmund.

Haaland has scored 49 goals in 52 games for Dortmund since arriving from RB Salzburg and has interest from Real Madrid, Barcelona, City, United, Chelsea and others should be become available this summer.

With doubts over Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani at Old Trafford, Scholes feels United need to go all-out to land the Norwegian.

'He's got that relationship with Ole and we all know how good he is,' Scholes added.

'Man United are desperate for a No. 9, an all-out centre-forward. Haaland would be the perfect choice, of course he would.'

Financing a deal for Haaland as clubs and leagues emerge from a pandemic could prove the major stumbling block.

Reports at the weekend stated his agent Mino Raiola wants to make Haaland the first '£1m-per-week' footballer.

In addition to an asking price from Dortmund of £158m, due to significant fees for his agent and father, a deal for Haaland is far trickier this summer than it would be 12 months from now when his £68m release clause becomes active.