Man Utd ‘drop transfer interest’ in Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic despite long pursuit – The Sun

MANCHESTER UNITED are reportedly no longer interested in signing Juventus' Mario Mandzukic in January.

The striker has been on United's radar since last summer, but the Red Devils ran out of time to sign him due to the transfer window closing early.

According to media outlet The Athletic, the chance of the 33-year-old moving to Old Trafford in the winter window has 'more or less ended'.

That is despite previous talk of the possibility of adding him to the squad in order to boost United's side up front.

There are reports that Manchester United are concerned about the veteran's fitness having not played for Juve this season.

Instead, the club are said to be interested in the likes of RB Salzburg's 19-year-old striker Erling Braut Haaland.

The youngster has continued to break scoring records finding the back of the net again in Salzburg's 4-1 win over Group E rivals Genk on Wednesday in the Champions League.

The Leeds-born Norwegian striker became the first teenager in the history of the European Cup/Champions League to score in five consecutive appearances in the competition.

An 87th minute goal gave him that achievement.

The goal also made it his 27th in 19 games, which also include five hat-tricks.

Not only that, Haaland is now one of five to have scored eight goals in his first five appearances in the Champions League, surpassing Harry Kane and Diego Costa.

So, no wonder Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has re-set his coordinates when navigating a fresh pair of legs for his team after failing to replace Romelu Lukaku in the summer.

Speaking earlier this season on Haaland, Solskjaer said: ''It's great watching him and I think everyone in Norway is excited by his development''.

Despite these latest reports, Mandzukic has had a successful career scoring 44 goals during his four and a half seasons in Italy as well as netting for Croatia in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

This also comes just hours after reports from German media outlet SportBild that Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund had been rivalling United in a double-swoop signing for Mandzukic and Emre Can.

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