An incident from his childhood may play a big part.
Speculation about where Erling Haaland may go this summer is growing.
But there's one team that more and more people are starting to believe he won't be going.
Swift Kicks' own Steve Kovach used Alf-Inge Haaland as his 'Where Are They Now' player in this week's episode of the Swift Kicks Podcast. During the segment, Steve went way back to 2001, when former Manchester United great Roy Keane inflicted a serious knee injury on Alf-Inge Haaland, Erling's dad, during a Manchester derby, and was shown a red card for his actions.
The Irishman would later admit that he committed the foul deliberately as he looked to gain revenge on his opponent, who had shown little sympathy to Keane when he had gone down with his own cruciate ligament injury four years earlier.
That incident from more than two decades ago, has the likes of Paul Ince believing that Keane's challenge lives long in the memory, and will prevent United from enticing Haaland to Old Trafford.
"United need a new striker. Haaland is a tricky one because of the situation with his dad and Keane at Old Trafford," Ince said, according to Sport Bible.
"I can't see him going to Old Trafford just based on that, and if there's no Champions League, he definitely won't."
Ince's latter point is a notable one as United are far from guaranteed a top-four finish this season.
However, even if they do get into Europe's top club competition, their hopes of landing Haaland could be slim.
The 21-year-old is one of the most sought-after players in world football, having netted 80 goals in just 79 matches for Dortmund since arriving at the club in January 2020.
Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona are all believed to be keen on signing the Norway international.
A potential bidding war could break out for the striker, but it seems that United may struggle to be a part of it, if Ince's prediction proves correct.