Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hails 'fantastic' Erling Haaland despite Man United's failed transfer pursuit
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer proved there are no hard feelings with Erling Haaland after hailing the one-time Manchester United target’s sensational form.
Solskjaer was desperate to land the Norway starlet in January but was left empty-handed as Borussia Dortmund won the race for his signature.
United have been left to rue their failure to bring him to Old Trafford as Haaland has enjoyed an incredible start in Germany.
The 19-year-old has scored 11 goals in seven games for Dortmund – including two in Tuesday’s Champions League win against Paris Saint-German.
And Solskjaer admitted he would have to make an exception by heaping praise on the striker, who he nurtured during his time in Molde.
“I normally never comment on opposition players,” said the United manager. “But since I’ve had Erling, I’m just delighted for him.
“He’s a top boy, an absolutely fantastic kid, who you want the best for. And for Norway it’s brilliant we have a striker who can score goals again.”
Haaland became United’s No1 striker target after scoring 24 goals for RB Salzburg before Christmas.
Solskjaer was confident he would land the teenager, who he mentored at Molde – but Old Trafford sources claimed they pulled out of a deal over the demands of super-agent Mino Raiola and Haaland’s father Alfe-Inge.
The main point of contention was the attempt to insert a buy-out clause into his contract.
Raiola has refuted those claims, while the player insists he chose Dortmund for football reasons.
In an interview with ViaSport, he said: “When the season was over, my father and I started talking. At that point, he didn’t mention Dortmund at all. Then I asked him, ‘What about this club? That would be nice.’ Then he said, ‘We’ll see.’
“It suddenly became an option and I had a good feeling about it throughout. The process was pretty simple on my end. I just played football and wasn’t very involved until the first half of the season was over.
“I didn’t have that much to do with it, to be honest. The process was to find the best possible club for me.”
Failure to land Haaland saw Solskjaer complete the last-ditch loan signing of Odion Ighalo on deadline day.
The Shanghai Shenhua striker could make his first start for United against Club Bruges in the Europa League on Thursday.
“I’m not going to tell the team today, but we’re going to have to rotate with all the games coming up and he’s one that could start,” said Solskjaer. “We’ve not made a decision yet.
“For me Odion is a different type of striker for us. He’s a box striker, a goal-scorer. We’ve seen him training, he knows his craft, how to train as a centre forward, a fantastic pro and human being.
“He’s already added to the squad. The boys have taken to him. I hope he’s going sharpen up quickly, he’s been out of season, needs to do a little bit extra after training and we try to give him as much game time as possible.
“He had a good chance at Chelsea, but sure he will take his chances.”
Read more
Rashford a doubt for Euro 2020 after injury setback, says Solskjaer
Club Brugge vs Man United preview: Prediction, live stream, team news
Raiola extends olive branch to Solskjaer after bizarre Pogba row
Why Maguire will escape retrospective ban for Batshuayi incident
