Borussia Dortmund have completed the signing of Erling Braut Haaland from Red Bull Salzburg on a contract until the summer of 2024.
The Norwegian sensation, linked with Manchester United, Juventus and RB Leipzig among others, will join his new team-mates on January 3 after moving for a reported €20 million (£17m/$22m).
Haaland, 19, has plundered 28 goals in 22 games for Salzburg this season, including eight in six in the Champions League group stages.
“I had intensive discussions with the club’s management, especially with Hans-Joachim Watzke, Michael Zorc and manager Lucien Favre,” Haaland told Dortmund’s website.
“There was a feeling right from the start that I absolutely wanted to join this club, go down this route and play football in this incredible Dortmund atmosphere in front of more than 80,000 spectators. I'm already itching to get started.”
Dortmund CEO Watzke was similarly excited to beat a number of top clubs to Haaland’s signature.
“Despite many offers from some absolute top clubs from all over Europe, Erling has decided to join the project at BVB and the vision we have shown him,” Watzke said. “Our tenacity has paid off.”
Sporting director Zorc added: “We can all look forward to watching an ambitious, athletic and physically strong centre-forward with a clear goalscoring instinct and impressive speed, and we hope he develops further in Dortmund.
“At the age of 19, Erling is, of course, just beginning what we hope will be a great career."
The signing of Haaland will doubtless give Dortmund’s squad a boost when they return from the Bundesliga winter break.
Favre’s side are seven points behind leaders Leipzig, finding themselves in fourth place after an inconsistent first half of the season.
Their next three games, against bottom-half teams in Augsburg, Koln and Union Berlin, represent a chance to gather some momentum early in the New Year.
One club’s profit is, of course, another club’s loss. Salzburg fans will doubtless be disappointed to see their star man leave for such a relatively small reported fee, while it is another blow for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United.
The Norwegian had hoped to link up with his compatriot at Old Trafford having previously worked with him at Molde, while fellow United target Jadon Sancho looks likely to link up with Haaland in the new year with Dortmund unwilling to allow him to leave.