Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has insisted that he tried to persuade Manchester United to sign Erling Haaland as a teenager, only for his pleas to be ignored.
Solskjaer oversaw Haaland’s development during their respective spell at Molde between 2017 and 2018 before the former rejoined Man Utd, firstly as caretaker manager before receiving the job on a permanent basis.
Speaking to an audience at the Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel on Friday evening, Solskjaer revealed that he tried to persuade United to take on the then up-and-coming Haaland when Jose Mourinho was manager.
“I got in contact with United because we had this talented striker who they should have had,” Solskjaer said.
“But they didn’t listen, unfortunately. Four million, I asked for. But they never signed him. Four million! Don’t ask [where he is now]. He’s too good.”
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United did make an attempt to sign Haaland from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020 when Solskjaer was at the helm, but the striker instead chose to join Borussia Dortmund.
He would go on to score a whopping 86 goals in 89 games across two-and-a-half seasons for BVB before completing a £51.2m move to Manchester City last summer, following in the footsteps of his father Alf-Inge.
Haaland has already broken the record for most Premier League goals scored in a single campaign, finding the net 35 times in his debut campaign.
City are also on the cusp of winning the treble. They lead the Premier League by a point from Arsenal but with a game in hand, face Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday and take on Man Utd in the FA Cup final in June.
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