Solskjaer details the two times Man Utd ignored his advice to sign Erling Haaland
Former Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed the two occasions he recommended Erling Haaland as a signing to the Red Devils.
Solskjaer was Man Utd boss between November 2018 and December 2021, failing to win any silverware despite leading them as high as second place in the Premier League during that period.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Man Utd ignored my advice on Erling Haaland
Man Utd have been criticised for their recruitment since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013 with a number of huge transfer fees wasted on players who have failed to live up to expectations.
But Solskjaer claims Haaland, who joined arch-rivals Man City for £52m in the summer of 2022, was available for Man Utd to buy on a couple of occasions before he moved to Borussia Dortmund and eventually City.
In fact, Solskjaer insists that he gave advice to Man Utd both times pushing them to sign Haaland before he moved to another major European club.
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Speaking on the Stick to Football show, Solskjaer said: “Two seasons more or less [he managed Haaland]. The summer before I got here [United]. I rang the club and said: ‘You’ve got to sign this boy. He will be top. Absolutely top class.’
“That was June, July 2018, and they said: ‘nah, we’ve got enough reports.’ Okay, no problem. Then I became the caretaker and they [Molde] sold him so Salzburg.
“I tell the club straight away. Buy him. Straight away. Because he didn’t play for him for three or four months, just sign him now because he’s got a release clause.
“We knew that and no one else then would have paid that money. 20 million euros. It would have been a bargain. Even at that time with links to Alfie and City and Leeds, maybe I think…
“It was the club’s decision not to go for him then, we never made bids or never went in for him until after they realised when he started scoring for Salzburg but then Dortmund were there, Juventus were there, everyone was there.
“It was another release clause that was not bad. I had him for 18 months, sign him. You know then.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Bruno Fernandes too passionate to be captain?
Bruno Fernandes was made Man Utd captain when Harry Maguire was stripped of the captaincy in the summer but Solskjaer thinks the former can be “too passionate at times”.
Solskjaer added: “I knew Bruno Fernandes had captain qualities when I was manager at Manchester United. He’s got the personality and quality – but he knows and I’ve told him – that he’s too passionate at times and he loses a bit of control.
“I loved Harry Maguire as a captain, he was the leader in that group for me when I was at the club.”
