The time Manchester United rejected the chance to sign Erling Haaland

Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has spoken about how the Premier League giants rejected the chance to sign his compatriot Erling Haaland.

During Solskjaer’s managerial spell with Molde in Norway, he discovered a young Haaland, spotting his enormous talent from an early age. Back in 2024, he revealed On The Stick to Football podcast to his former teammates, Gary Neville and Roy Keane, how he had attempted to convince the Old Trafford outfit to sign the teenage striker years prior.

“I had him [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’. That was June/July 2018, and they said no – they had enough reports on players.”

Manchester City over Manchester United

Haaland later went on to join RB Salzburg in Austria, before landing a move to German side Borussia Dortmund. Now recognised as one of the best players in the world, Haaland helped United’s cross-city rivals Manchester City to win a treble in his first season (2022-2023) at the Etihad Stadium.

With Man City, he has won two Premier League titles, two FA Cups, one UEFA Super Cup, one Carabao Cup and one Community Shield.

Related stories

MANCHESTER CTY

Can Haaland win while Messi is still in the game?

REAL MADRID

Prosecutors seek jail for Ancelotti

Solskjaer says that he later tried to convince United to sign Haaland when he took charge of the club where he himself won a treble in 1999. He added: “Then I became the caretaker manager [of United], and we [Molde] had 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% goal. He’s a gem.”