Erling Haaland has ties to both Manchester City and Leeds United, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes he could have signed him at Manchester United. Roy Keane and Ian Wright responded.

When Haaland was still playing for Molde in Norway, the former Manchester United manager disclosed that he had the option to sign him for £17.1 million.

Although the Man City striker was raised in Leeds and has admitted to cheering for the team when he was younger, Solskjaer maintained that this would not have prevented it.

“He had a release clause and we knew, and no one else would have paid that money,” Solskjaer disclosed in a speech on the Stick To Football podcast on March 6.

“Twenty million Euros. It would have been a bargain, and maybe at that time, even though with his links with Alfie [Haaland], City and Leeds…”

Keane asked Wright, “What are you looking at me for?” as he attempted not to chuckle at the circumstances and instead appeared shocked.

Could Erling Haaland have been signed by Leeds United?

In 2022, former Everton manager Duncan Ferguson revealed that Haaland might have joined Leeds for as little as £2 million. The striker had a trial with the Goodison Park team at the age of 15, and he probably would have also had trials at Elland Road.

It is unknown if that support would have been considered if Man United, under Solskjaer, had shown more serious interest in signing the massive striker than only a passing fancy given his and his dad’s ties to the team.

The former United manager must rank this as one of his greatest regrets as a manager because club allegiances haven’t prevented players from going in the past, so there’s no reason to believe they wouldn’t have done so here.

It is hard to think how different the Norwegian’s career would be if he had joined Leeds at Elland Road as a 15-year-old, given the difficulties the club has encountered recently, with Patrick Bamford leading the way for the most of that period.