Former Manchester City and Leeds midfielder Alf-Inge Haaland said Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund have a lot of similarities as he spoke about his son Erling's future.
Alf-Inge made the claim amid United's interest in Erling before he made the move to the Bundesliga earlier this year.
The younger Haaland was a student of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when the pair were at Molde in Norway and United believed they could strike a deal for the forward when he was at RB Salzburg.
But the 20-year-old now appears to be settled at Dortmund, who then repelled United's attempts to sign Jadon Sancho in the summer transfer window just gone. And the elder Haaland has told German media outlet Sport1 that the two clubs are similar.
"Manchester United have achieved great success in recent years," he said. "The club is also trying to build something new there. But to draw this comparison now is not so easy because he [Erling] is already playing in Dortmund.
"These are two very traditional clubs with a large fan base and a glorious history. Man United is a very proud club, just like Dortmund in Germany."
Haaland's father denied that Dortmund needed to make clearer their intentions over players like his son and Sancho, saying he is happy with how BVB treat their sought-after stars.
"I don't think the bosses need to be clearer," added the former Man City captain."You take good care of him and are very happy with his performance. He can play almost every week and thanks him with many goals for the team. Is there anything more beautiful? So he's fine. We don't have to discuss this in the media.
"He is happy to be in Dortmund and to play for this club. There are so many nice people there and it really is a fantastic club."
