Manchester United have yet to sign Erling Haaland for just £4m as a teenager, with one observer criticising the club for what he said could well be “the biggest movement mistake in history”.
Haaland moved to Manchester City last summer for a payment of £51 million after fulfilling the release clause of his contract with Borussia Dortmund. After scoring 86 goals in 89 appearances for BVB, City made the decision to bring the Norwegian to City in a bid to help. The club eventually won the Champions League, and the project was completed in his first season as Haaland worked his way up to an incredible 52 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions.
Although they need to repeat at City in their second season, City are one hundred per cent in all competitions this season, with seven wins out of seven in all competitions.
And picking up where he left off last season, Haaland already has 8 goals in games, taking his tally at the Etihad to a ridiculous 60 goals in 62 games.
In fact, few players in world football can reach those figures, making the 23-year-old, along with Kylian Mbappe and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, heir to the throne of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the most important players in football.
Watching Haaland prove those numbers around the city with Pep Guardiola’s side will have to be a hard pill to swallow for anyone connected with Manchester United.
In fact, they tried and failed to sign Haaland twice, either before his move to Borussia Dortmund or even earlier, when Haaland was still a teenager.
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The person who most decided to sign Haaland for United was former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He went out of his way to sign Haaland in December 2019, when it was clear he was about to leave Red Bull Salzburg.
With his release clause set at €20 million, this move for the then 19-year-old would have ticked a lot of requirements for the Red Devils in attack.
Since then, United have tried to find the answer in attack, but Anthony Martial failed to impress and last season’s loanee Wout Weghorst was temporarily sacked.
The club paid a whopping £72 million this summer for Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund, who has earned comparisons to Haaland for his style.
However, with the 20-year-old Dane yet to be revealed, United have been forced to spend heavily on his potential, more than anything.
Ultimately, though, their failure to get Haaland continues to bother the Red Devils.
It has now emerged that Solskjaer had also tried to sign Haaland for United before the player moved to Austria in 2018.
At just 18 years old at the time, Haaland may have been signed at the time for just £4m.
Solskjaer’s failure to do so twice has been described by journalist Dean Jones as “the greatest failure of all time”.
“It’s one of the biggest movement mistakes of all time, but they tried,” Jones told Givemesport. “Ole Gunnar Solskjaer travelled to Norway with the aim of closing this deal, but he came back without it and since then he feels like United, we have fought to live up to that moment.
“It might be the worst comeback ever made to sign a player like that, but now they have Rasmus Hojlund, so at least his call looks a bit like him!Now they have to start scoring goals like him too!
Hojlund has started his United career and has one goal in his squad in four appearances so far.
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