“I immediately told the club to buy him with a release clause – it would be a good deal”
Solskjaer revealed he twice urged United to sign Haaland for £17m but was ignored both times.
The former Manchester United boss spoke about his time at Old Trafford on the Stick to Football Podcast.
In the chat, he talks about three of today's world-class footballers that he's trying to get United to pay for.
One of them is Haaland, whom Solskjaer coached during his time at Molde in Norway. Solskjaer played for Molde for the second time between 2015 and 2018, and Haaland entered the first team in 2017.
The Norwegian saw early potential in Haaland and urged United to sign him even before he became United manager.
“I kept him (Haaland) at Molde for two seasons,” the Norwegian said.
“The summer before I came here (Manchester United) I called the club and said, 'You have to sign this boy. He's going to be top class.'
“That was June or July 2018 and they said no. They had enough reporting on the players.”
At the end of 2018, after Solskjaer became the Red Devils coach, he once again recommended the club to sign Haaland. At this time, the then 18-year-old player had signed with Red Bull Salzburg, with a buyout clause in the contract of only 20 million euros (£17 million).
But as before, his pleas fell on deaf ears.
“I became interim manager and we sold Haaland to Red Bull Salzburg,” Solskjaer explained.
“I immediately told the club to buy him with a release clause. We knew then that no one would pay the money – 20 million euros, it would be a good deal.
“The club decided not to do it at the time. We never made a bid for him or got involved until after he started scoring goals for Salzburg.
“At that time, Borussia Dortmund was there, Juventus was there, everyone was there. His release clause was still good at that time – 60 million euros.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Haaland only played for Salzburg for one season before moving to Borussia Dortmund, where he scored 86 goals in 89 games.
Of course, City then paid a $60 million release clause to sign the striker in the summer of 2022, and Haaland broke numerous goal records in his first season, scoring an astonishing 36 goals. League goals.
Hindsight is a good thing, right?
Related Links:
Harry Kane blasts Jamie Carragher for lying about their relationship
Paul Scholes claims Phil Foden is 'much better' than Frank Lampard
#Solskjaer #reveals #told #Manchester #United #sign #Haaland #17m
