8 months ago
43 ARTICLE AD
Manchester United snubbed a transfer for Erling Haaland more than once as former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed new behind-the-scenes details.
Haaland is among the best strikers in world football and helped Manchester City win a historic treble last season, registering an incredible 52 goals in 53 games.
That was the Norway international’s debut campaign at the Etihad after arriving from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth an initial £51m.
Haaland is once again on top form this term, scoring 28 times and providing six assists across 31 matches, with his value only going up.
In a new interview on The Overlap, Solskjaer has now told a second story about how he tried to bring Haaland to Old Trafford, this time when he was caretaker manager of United after Haaland had moved from Molde to Red Bull Salzburg.
Solskjaer claims United could have signed Haaland for just €20 million due to a release clause in his contract at the time, but the club snubbed him yet again.
‘I had him [Erling Haaland] in Molde, for two seasons,’ Solskjaer said. ‘The summer before I got here [joined Manchester United], I rang the club and said ‘You’ve got to sign this boy – he’ll be top class’.
‘That was June/July 2018, and they said no – they had enough reports on players. Then I became the caretaker manager [of United], and we’d sold Haaland to RB Salzburg.
‘I tell the club straight away to buy him while he has a release clause. We knew that then, and no one else would’ve paid the money – €20 million, it would’ve been a bargain.
‘Even though with his links with Alfie [Haaland], and Manchester City and Leeds. It was the club’s decision to not go for it then.
‘We never made bids or went in for him, until after he started scoring for Salzburg. By then, Borussia Dortmund were there, Juventus were there, everyone was there. His release clause then was still good – €60 million.
‘He’s got more than just being a great lad. He’s such a team player, and one-on-one with a keeper, he doesn’t think about his own stats. He passes if someone else is through and it’ll be a 100 per cent goal. He’s a gem.’
MORE : Ole Gunnar Solskjaer names the Arsenal star Manchester United ‘could’ and ‘should’ have signed
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
