Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals how close Manchester United came to signing Erling Haaland

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed he told Manchester United to sign Erling Haaland on two separate occasions, before he joined Man City.

Haaland has become one of football’s most prolific forwards across spells at Borussia Dortmund and Man City but his top flight journey started at Norwegian side Molde, who were managed by Solskjaer.

Solskjaer handed him his debut as a 16-year-old and 18 months later he had joined Austrian side RB Salzburg and was regarded as one of the best prospects in world football.

Manchester United ignore Solskjaer’s Haaland advice

Before his move to Austria, Solskjaer recommended Haaland to United but they ignored his advice.

Solskjaer then urged United to sign him from Salzburg immediately after being appointed as United manager in December 2018, he urged them to activate Haaland’s €20million release clause.

That plea fell on deaf ears before the world was well aware of Haaland’s talents at Dortmund and it was city rivals Man City who activated his release clause in the summer of 2022.

“I had him [Erling Haaland] in Molde, for two seasons. 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’,” Solskjaer told the Stick to Football podcast.

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“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 – €20million, 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 – €60million.

“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% goal. He’s a gem.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjær was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.