'Man Utd didn't listen to me about signing Haaland for £4m' claims Solskjaer

Suraj Radia

• 13 May 2023 09:41 BST
• 2 min read

Erling Haaland could have been playing for Manchester United instead of rivals City had the club listened to the pleas of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the former Red Devils manager has revealed.

Haaland has enjoyed a record-breaking debut season for City since joining them last summer, netting 35 goals in 32 Premier League games and putting Pep Guardiola’s side on course for a third-successive title.

Solskjaer, who managed Haaland during his time at Molde, was speaking at an event in Manchester and refused to specifically name the 22-year-old but revealed he had recommended ‘a talented striker’ to United prior to being appointed as the club’s manager in 2018.

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“I had this talented striker that we (United) should have had,” Solskjaer said. “I called them six months before I was offered the job, and offered him for £4 million. Four million!”

“We should have had him now, but they didn't listen to me.”

When asked by a fan which team the unnamed player was currently at, Solskjaer replied ‘Do not ask. Don’t ask!’, virtually confirming Haaland as the star in question.

How close were United to signing Haaland?

Haaland came through the academy of Norwegian side Bryne but moved to Solskjaer’s Molde in 2017 at the age of 16 and went on to score 14 goals in 39 games for them.

Four of those strikes came in July 2018 when Haaland scored all the goals in the opening 21 minutes of a 4-0 win over unbeaten league leaders Brann, leading to a host of interest – potentially the pivotal point where Solskjaer may have recommended the forward to United.

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The striker moved to Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg in January 2019, just weeks after Solskjaer had been named as United’s caretaker manager following the sacking of Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.

He spent less than a year at Salzburg, scoring 29 goals in 27 games before making a €20m move to Dortmund, with United reportedly having turned down the chance to sign him once again due to agent fees and the insistence of a release clause in his contract.