Erling Haaland has proven to be an exceptional acquisition for Manchester City and the Norwegian international has already broken multiple scoring records since he moved to the Premier League.
Senior scout Brian King has now revealed to Football Insider that Manchester United were very close to signing the player and Haaland could have been easily playing at Old Trafford, had it not been for a delayed phone call.
Before the striker moved from Molde to Salzburg, Manchester United were working on a deal to sign the player and the Red Devils were expected to finalise the transfer with a call to the Norwegian club.
However, it was end of the season in England and the club officials rang in late, by which time Haaland’s move to Salzburg was finalised.
“I know the chief Scandavavian scout at United and he worked really hard to get him over there. There was a mix-up at the end of the season and a lot of people were on holiday at United.
“They were told that they had to ring Molde at a certain time in the morning.
“The guy who was handling Haaland’s deal from Molde to Salzburg was Jim Solbakken and he has good connections with Man United.
“He said that if the call is not in by 10 o’clock, then Haaland will go to Salzburg. The people at United who made the call made it an hour late. They should have rung at nine but they rang at 10, which is 11 in Norway.
“That caused the deal not to go through!”
The 23-year-old striker could have been a stunning acquisition for Manchester United and he could have transformed them in the attack. The Red Devils are currently struggling to score goals consistently and they could certainly use a world-class striker like him.
The Manchester City striker has scored 186 goals and picked up 44 assists in just 191 appearances since leaving Molde. He has 19 goals across all competitions this season.
Manchester United splashed out a substantial amount of money to improve their attacking options in recent seasons. But players like Antony, Jadon Sancho and Rasmus Hojlund have not been able to live up to the expectations.
It remains to be seen whether the Red Devils can get the best out of theire new signings.