Borussia Dortmund has a track record of producing outstanding young talent. Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho, and Jude Bellingham are a few names that the Black and Yellow have helped develop in recent years before selling them on.
Manchester United, on the other hand, once had an outstanding academy where the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs came through. However, since the class of '92 and the Sir Alex Ferguson era at the club, it has been downhill for United.
Many players United sign end up getting worse. For example, Sancho was signed from Dortmund for €85 million. He has since been loaned back to Dortmund, was at Chelsea last season, and is now on loan at Aston Villa.
Other players such as Marcus Rashford, Antony, and Scott McTominay have excelled since leaving Old Trafford. Therefore, it would appear a no-brainer for any young player to choose Dortmund over United.
Who could be the next player to join Borussia Dortmund instead of Manchester United?
Haaland was tracked by all the top European clubs when he was at Red Bull Salzburg, including United. The Norwegian even reportedly spoke with the Red Devils. However, he joined Dortmund instead and has since starred for Manchester City in the Premier League.
Now, another highly rated player from Scandinavia could follow in Haaland’s footsteps in snubbing United. Florian Plettenberg of Sky Germany posted on X: "Dortmund are now in the race for Kevin Filling. Sebastian Kehl wants the 16 y/o striker gem. Manchester United are still pushing to sign Filling, but no agreement has been reached with any club yet. Filling could leave AIK as early as this winter."
Filling has burst onto the scene with Allmänna Idrottsklubben in the Allsvenskan this season. He has already scored twice in nine games for the club, which is phenomenal for the teenager. The young forward has also spent time on loan at Enköpings SK FK.
He has represented Sweden up to the U17 level. Providing the young player makes the right choices, he will no doubt have a bright future. Right now, the path that would be far greater for his development appears to be Dortmund over Manchester United.
United may be a bigger name that plays in the best division in the world, the Premier League. However, Dortmund has a model of developing young players before selling them on to the top teams in the world.