Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said it was easy to see from an early age that Erling Haaland would go on to become a world-class footballer. Solskjaer said that Haaland struggled with knee injuries as a teenager but his personality and desire to win shone through in the two years they worked together. It left Solskjaer in no doubt that the youngster would become a force to be reckoned with.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said “You can see the personality. He came as a 16-year-old, of course, you never know with injuries, he struggled really badly with bad knees when he came. But I could see someone with a personality. I remember him brushing off and putting our centre-back and centre midfielders, two big, massive lads, he put them on the floor and asked them to get up. He’s a winner. He’s got a great personality, of course. He’s proving to everyone how good a player he is. We played against Zenit in the Europa League play-off and the referee came to me after and said, ‘He’ll play in the Champions League soon.’ We did know. He’s a top personality. I played with Alf (Haaland’s father), he’s a bit old school in that respect. He’s a winner.”
The Manchester United boss managed Haaland when the duo worked together at Molde in 2017 and 2018 before Solskjaer took over at Old Trafford. The forward moved onto RB Salzburg in 2019 before agreeing to join Borussia Dortmund later that same year. United are keen to sign Haaland and reunite him with Solskjaer, having previously missed out on the Norway international when he moved from Salzburg to Dortmund in January 2020. Haaland was just 16 when he joined Molde from Bryne but he left a big impression on Solskjaer.
