Sports
INEOS already signed Solskjaer’s new Haaland at Man Utd & it’s not Sesko
The post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United is littered with ‘what if’ moments, not least the decision not to pursue Norwegian sensation, Erling Haaland.
Still just 25, the Manchester City man is arguably the world’s leading number nine, having plundered 150 goals in just 173 games at the Etihad, after netting 86 in 89 games at Borussia Dortmund.
The man for the big occasion, too, Haaland has repeatedly sunk United in recent years, as he’ll look to do again in the derby next weekend, scoring eight times in just nine career meetings with the Red Devils.
Whether it is a factor or not, the free-scoring machine appears on a personal mission to leave the Old Trafford side looking red-faced over their failure to land him all those years ago, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s recommendation having fallen on deaf ears.
What Solskjaer has said about Man Utd’s Haaland failure
While a decision has yet to be confirmed, it looks as if Solskjaer will be the man in the dugout for United’s meeting with Pep Guardiola’s side next weekend, having emerged as the frontrunner to replace Ruben Amorim on an interim basis.
Encouragingly, the Norwegian hero does boast a solid record against Guardiola and City, memorably doing the double over the Catalan coach in the Premier League in 2019/20.
That was all before Haaland came to the party in 2022, however, with Solskjaer needing to find a way to stop his relentless compatriot next weekend, following the striker’s double in the reverse fixture at the Etihad.
If anyone knows how you could potentially stop Haaland it is his former Molde boss, however, with it having been that relationship which sparked Solskjaer’s recommendation that United should sign a then-unknown teenager.
As the 1999 hero has stated since, he rang his former club to tell them to sign the promising striker, while again pushing for a deal upon his arrival as caretaker boss in 2018/19, with Haaland having moved to Red Bull Salzburg at the time.
“By the time I came in as caretaker, we [Molde] had sold him to Salzburg. I tell the club straight away: ‘Buy him.’ He had a release clause.
“No-one else then would have paid that money. It was 20m euros and it would have been a bargain. It was the club’s decision to not go for him then.”
£17m was what it would’ve taken to prise the youngster from Austria, yet Solskjaer’s advice was not acted upon, while the rest, as they say, is history.
In the present day, the 52-year-old will be looking to work his magic with United’s current attacking crop, and not just Benjamin Sesko.
Man Utd already signed Solskjaer’s new Haaland
Encouragingly for whoever the interim boss is to be at Old Trafford, summer signing Sesko is back amongst the goals, following his well-taken brace against Burnley.
A 22-year-old who has navigated his way through Austrian and Germany football, like Haaland, the comparison is there to see, although he might not be the striker that Solskjaer takes a shine to.
Indeed, it was the teen version of Haaland that Solskjaer worked with at Molde, the 6 foot 4 ace scoring 20 times in 50 games under his fellow Norwegian.
|
Haaland – 2018 League stats (Molde) |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat (*per game) |
Record |
|
Games |
25 |
|
Starts |
17 |
|
Goals |
12 |
|
Mins per goal |
133 |
|
Goal conversion |
21% |
|
Big chances missed |
11 |
|
Big chances created |
2 |
|
Assists |
4 |
|
Key passes* |
0.7 |
|
Total duels won* |
34% |
A new Scandinavian teen sensation has already been signed by INEOS for Solskjaer to mould in Manchester, with Chido Obi no doubt pushing to get back into the first-team picture.
Yet to feature this season, the promising Dane has failed to build upon his eight senior appearances last term, having been namechecked by Amorim as one of the academy players to have struggled of late.
Such criticism didn’t go down well with the United hierarchy, nor Obi for that matter, with the club no doubt wary of unsettling a player whose capture from Arsenal was deemed a real coup back in 2024.
Like Haaland, the potential is there to see even despite his relative youth, with the 18-year-old lauded as a “goal machine” by analyst Ben Mattinson, after netting 32 goals in just 21 U18 games for the Gunners, as per Transfermarkt.
A “10/10 talent“, in the view of scout Jacek Kulig, Obi is yet to score at senior level for United, although his chances have been fleeting. Might that change under Solskjaer?
The ex-Besiktas boss evidently isn’t afraid to trust youth, as he showed with Haaland back in Norway, and with genuine centre-forward options limited at Old Trafford, outside of Sesko and Joshua Zirkzee, now could be the time to get Obi back into the mix again.
The Red Devils missed their chance to land Haaland before the rest of the world caught on to his talents, but having struck early to land a new teen striking sensation, the club must begin to put their faith in him.
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