Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince has criticised the club for letting Erling Braut Haaland "slip through the net".

United were heavily linked with bringing Haaland to Old Trafford in January, having seen him score 28 goals in just 22 games for Red Bull Salzburg during the first half of the campaign.

However, the 19-year-old instead joined Borussia Dortmund, where he has maintained his impressive scoring rate with 12 in 11 outings for the Bundesliga outfit.

Ince believes that Haaland is exactly the player United need to close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool, and suggested that the Red Devils could live to regret missing out on the youngster.

"If they want to close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool then they need a world class striker," Ince told Goal.com.

"They had the chance with Haaland, the young kid who went to Dortmund, that was sad really. He is a very, very good young player who can improve and you can't let people like that slip through the net.

"That was disappointing that they couldn't get him. They have got to have someone in who gets 20-25 goals a season."

Haaland has scored 40 goals in 33 appearances across all competitions this season.