Ole Gunnar Solskjaer twice tried to persuade Manchester United to sign Erling Haaland before he made his name at Borussia Dortmund.
Solskjaer gave Haaland, then 16, his professional debut during their time together at Norwegian side Molde. He quickly realised he had a star on his hands and called his former club to try to persuade them to steal a march on their rivals.
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He explained on the Stick to Football podcast: “I had him in Molde, for two seasons.
“I rang the club [United] 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.”
Solskjaer then moved to Old Trafford, where he enjoyed a trophy-laden spell as a player, in December 2018 as caretaker manager.
A month later Haaland moved to Salzburg on a deal that contained a small release clause that Solskjaer was eager to activate.
He added: “We had sold Haaland to Salzburg. I tell the club [United] straight away to buy him while he has a release clause.
“We knew that then, and no-one else would’ve paid the money – €20m (£17m), it would’ve been a bargain even though [he had] 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.”
ERLING 💬 Live everything in life, if you overthink it’s not good. If you have stress, it’s not good. My life is about football so that’s what I focus on. I have one career, my focus is to be the best player I can be. pic.twitter.com/XfH0l8IEWj
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 5, 2024
Haaland moved to Dortmund – a club renown for developing young talent – in December 2019 and made an immediate impact, scoring five times in his first 56 minutes on the field.
A move to City followed in the summer of 2022 and the goals continued to flow. His 52 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions last season fired Pep Guardiola’s men to the treble while he has also contributed 27 this term.
“He’s got more than just being a great lad,” added Solskjaer.
“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.”
