Manchester United twice decided against pursuing a deal to sign Erling Haaland, according to former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Haaland has become one of the world’s best players since moving to Manchester City last summer, but he could have joined the red half of town earlier in his career.

The striker came through at Norwegian side Molde at a time when Solskjaer was their manager, and the United legend recommended his former club sign Haaland before anyone else muscled their way in.

“I had him [Erling Haaland] in Molde, for two seasons. The summer before I got here [United], I rang the club and said ‘You’ve got to sign this boy – he’ll be top class’,” Solskjaer said on Sky Bet’s Stick to Football show.

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

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Haaland would leave Molde for Red Bull Salzburg in 2019 and he quickly announced himself as one of Europe’s top prospects. Solskjaer, now the manager of United, again asked the club to look into a deal.

“We [Molde] had sold Haaland to RB Salzburg. I tell the club [United] straight away to buy him while he has a release clause,” Solskjaer continued.

“We knew that then, and no one else would’ve paid the money – €20m (£17m), it would’ve been a bargain. Even though with his links with Alfie [Haaland], and Manchester City and Leeds.”

Solskjaer added: “It was the club’s decision to not go for it then [in 2020].

“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 – €60m.

“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.”

Haaland signed for Dortmund in January 2020 and scored 86 goals in 89 games for them before joining City in the summer of 2022.