Oliver Kahn reveals how close Bayern Munich came to signing Erling Haaland
Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn has revealed the club "tried everything" to sign Erling Haaland during the 2022 summer transfer window.
FC Hollywood were one of a number of clubs who held talks with the superstar striker while he was on the books at Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund - where he scored a quite ridiculous 86 goals in 89 games in all competitions in two-and-a-half seasons.
Haaland would eventually sign for Manchester City for a fee of around £55m, with Bayern opting to sign Sadio Mane as their replacement for Robert Lewandowski.
While Mane has struggled for form in Bavaria, Haaland has thrived in Lancashire, breaking the all-time single Premier League season goalscoring record. The 22-year-old has 35 strikes to his name and also scored crucial goals to knock Bayern out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.
Speaking about Haaland to BILD Sport, CEO Kahn has now revealed the lengths Bayern went to in order to try and push through a move before coming up short.
"We tried everything for Erling Haaland one year ago and went to our financial limits," the former goalkeeper said. "We had to decide: do we want to break our wage structure? We weren’t ready for that. That’s not Bayern-like."
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In light of Haaland's move to Manchester and Mane's indifferent form in Munich, 90min understands that Bayern are already prepared to listen to offers for the latter - the Senegalese international has played second fiddle to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in recent weeks - and are pursuing a move for Eintracht Frankfurt's Randal Kolo Muani.
Talks have been held with the Frenchman's representatives about a potential move to Bayern, though Frankfurt's CEO Axel Hallmann recently suggested that a bid of at least €90m would be needed for a deal to be agreed.
“Kolo Muani? When I look at the international market, I imagine a different number than €90m - more than this," he said. "He has a long-term deal. My absolutely ideal scenario would be that he stays with Eintracht."
The 24-year-old has scored 13 Bundesliga goals and 21 in all competitions after joining from Nantes on a free transfer last summer.
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On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss the possibility of Neymar joining Newcastle, Jude Bellingham's decision on his future and Lionel Messi leaving PSG.
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