Manchester United missed out to neighbours Manchester City in the race for Erling Haaland, but they had known about the extent of the Norwegian's talent as long ago as 2017.
Haaland joined City from Borussia Dortmund over the summer and has taken the Premier League by storm. His 10 goals in six games have put him comfortably top of the goalscoring charts, while he also scored twice on his Champions League debut for the club against Sevilla.
Five years ago, though, United had a link to the then-teenage star. He was being managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - a man who would go on to return to Old Trafford as manager - and Solskjaer made a call to the club to let them know just how talented the young Haaland was.
“He had been with us seven or eight months, he was training really hard and he had become part of the squad," John Vik, chief scout at Molde when Haaland was at the club, told The Athletic. "I walked down to see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was Molde’s manager, and I said, ‘You have to call Manchester United, mate – this is unreal what we are looking at.’
Haaland had joined Molde from Bryne at the start of 2017, but didn't immediately hold down a regular starting spot. He scored just twice in the league in his first season, but hit 12 in the following season as Solskjaer's team finished second in the table.
A move to Red Bull Salzburg followed, with Borussia Dortmund pouncing after the striker scored at a rate of better than a goal a game in Austria. However, if things had gone differently, he might have ended up at Old Trafford.
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"Me and Ole understood that this kid was so good we were not going to be able to keep him," Vik added. "Ole agreed with absolutely everything.
"‘I will put a phone call in’, he said, ‘they need to hear about this kid’. We had friends at United. I used to work closely with United, in the early 2000s, and most of the guys I knew had gone. But Ole was Ole. ‘For God’s sake’, I said, ‘call Nicky Butt (then United’s head of academy), or call somebody, because this kid is unreal’.
“This was even before Erling had really started to play for Molde properly. Ole put the phone call in. So the name was put in. Then, how or whether United followed it up, I don’t know.”
By the time Solskjaer took over as United manager in December 2018, Haaland had already agreed terms with Red Bull Salzburg. The Norwegian manager didn't sign any strikers in his first three windows, but eventually moved for Edinson Cavani in 2020 and brought Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford the following year.
Upon being unveiled by City, though, Haaland hinted he was never likely to opt for United. The striker's father played for City, and he has spoken about supporting the club as a child.
