Erling Haaland has suggested Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the reason he is not playing for Manchester United.
The Norwegian burst onto the scene back in 2019 when at Red Bull Salzburg and had a host of Europe's heavyweights after him. United were among those linked with the forward, who was scoring for fun in the Champions League. Solskjaer had worked with a teenage Haaland during his time in charge at Molde and was then in charge at United.
Old Trafford was seen as a likely destination for Haaland given his history with Solskjaer, but Borussia Dortmund won the race for his signature. He's now at Manchester City, but has offered a cryptic Gary Neville said: "Ole was your manager. How are you not at Manchester United?" He simply told Sky Sports: "You have to ask him."
Before Haaland moved to Germany Solskajer was questioned on speculation regarding a move for the in-demand forward. He responded: "I don't comment on them speculations so that's it. He [Haaland] knows what he wants to do and he knows what he's gonna do. So I don't have to give any advice to any other teams' players."
United's loss has proved to be Dortmund's and now City's gain. Haaland has continued to be prolific with his reputation still firmly on the rise. He scored almost a goal per game whilst in Germany and has been a massive hit in the Premier League.
Haaland has already bagged two hat-tricks for Pep Guardiola's side, breaking numerous records. Ahead of his first Manchester derby the Norwegian had scored 14 times in 10 games in all competitions.
City's capture of Haaland is seen as a major boost to their Champions League hopes - the only major trophy they are yet to win since their Abu Dhabi takeover. The Norwegian though does not feel any added pressure to deliver Europe's top prize to the Etihad.
He said: "The pressure will always be there on footballers, no matter what, no matter where you play. At Dortmund, there is also pressure, there are 80,000 fans at every home game. As footballers, we have pressure on us every day, we have exams every single weekend and that's just how my life will be for the next 10 or 15 years.
"But the missing part of the puzzle, I cannot say too much about this. But my dream is to win the Champions League."
