Friday 13 December 2019 11:16, UK
Erling Braut Haaland is totally focused on RB Salzburg despite strong interest from a string of top European clubs, sporting director Christoph Freund has insisted.
The 19-year-old striking prodigy is being tracked by the likes of Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund ahead of the January transfer window and he has already visited other teams in Germany this month.
Salzburg chief Freund insists that no formal talks with other clubs over a transfer have yet begun, but he has been speaking to Haaland's representative - the super-agent Mino Raiola - and his father Alfe Inge, who played for Manchester City.
"Erling is 100 per cent focused on Red Bull Salzburg," he said. "You could see that on Tuesday and also in training - he is on board and embracing the club.
"We have not talked to any clubs yet. We talked to his dad and his agent. There are many clubs that are interested, but we haven't talked to any them."
Among the clubs to be interested in Haaland is Salzburg's cousin RB Leipzig in Germany, and Ralph Rangnick - the ownership's head of sport and development - believes he is an "outstanding" talent.
"Even when he was still in Molde you could see this," he said. "It was difficult to predict how quickly he's developed in the last six or 10 months. It's a combination of top mentality, technically and tactically already on a very high level.
"The biggest asset he has is that he wants to get better every day and he's never complacent. He's never thinking 'okay, now I have reached the next level or achieved the next level, now I can relax'. No. He wants to get better every day.
"He listens to the coach. He's the kind of player every coach would love to have in his squad. He's an outstanding player.
"If he doesn't get injured, if he stays with both feet on the ground, in the next 10 years, I don't see any other striker with the same potential as he has."
Sky Sports will bring you the very latest news from the January transfer market with the return of three shows.
Start your day with Good Morning Transfers at 9am as our team of reporters bring you the latest news and insight. Transfer Talk then follows at midday delivering analysis of the biggest stories. Then join us at 7pm for the definitive round-up of the day's news with The Transfer Show.
Meanwhile, the Transfer Talk podcast will also be back at the turn of the year with more expert analysis from here and across the continent.
And as well as tuning into Sky Sports News, don't miss a thing with our dedicated Transfer Centre blog.
