Manchester United chief Ed Woodward made the final call not to sign Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland in January.

United were one of the leading clubs in the race to sign the Norwegian after his 28 goals in 21 games for RB Salzburg.

But Borussia Dortmund were able to sneak in ahead of the Premier League giants and sign him at the turn of the year.

ESPN says the demise of the deal was all down to Woodward himself.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had met Haaland last December, having and managed to strike a deal with the then-Salzburg forward.

And the move would have been happening in the January transfer window for just €20m [£18.1m].

But Woodward weighed in at the last minute due to the agent fees and the “insistence" that a release clause was inserted into his Old Trafford deal.