Manchester United could have signed Erling Haaland from Norwegian club, Molde for just £4 million if they had listened to the club’s former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Haaland is currently setting records and scoring goals for Manchester City, but the outcome could have been different if Manchester United had listened to Solskjaer’s advice in 2018.
The former United player and manager discovered Haaland’s deadly goalscoring ability when he was coaching the youngster at Molde between 2015 and 2018.
Solskjaer was so impressed with Haaland’s goalscoring ability that he had to call Manchester United to urge them to sign the talented Norwegian striker for just £4 million.
However, United disregarded his advice, and eventually, Haaland signed with RB Salzburg, moved to Dortmund, and then Manchester City paid £50 million to sign him in the summer of 2022.
Currently, he is not just seen as the best striker in the world, he is seen as the most valuable striker in the world who is said to be worth around £200 million.
“I called United about six months before I took over and told them that I’d got this striker that we had,” said Solskjaer as quoted by TalkSport.
“But they didn’t listen.
“I asked for £4m for Haaland but they didn’t sign him.”
This revelation will hugely hurt United’s fans who have seen their team struggle for most of the season due to inconsistent number 9.
Marcus Rashford who is Manchester United’s highest goalscorer with 29 goals this season, plays mostly as a winger. While Wout Weghorst who is supposed to be the club’s number 9 has managed to score just two goals in 27 games.
On the other hand, Erling Haaland who is just 22-year-old has scored 35 goals in the Premier League alone and 51 goals in 47 games in all competitions this season.
While Manchester City continue to enjoy the services of Haaland, Manchester United’s coach, Erik Ten Hag is currently searching for a top striker to buy this summer.
