Manchester United should have spent £150m to sign Premier League superstar Erling Haaland before he joined Manchester City, according to an Old Trafford legend.
Haaland boasted extraordinary numbers before his move to England in 2022, having scored 86 goals in 89 games for his previous club Borussia Dortmund.
The 24-year-old’s emergence as one of the greatest goalscorers of all time has continued over the last two years, with Haaland bagging over 50 goals in his first season at Man City and another 38 last term.
Haaland could be set to eclipse even his own remarkable numbers during the 2024-25 campaign, having scored nine goals – and two hat-tricks – in just five games this season.
Manchester City signed Haaland after activating his £51.2m Borussia Dortmund release clause, beating locals rivals Manchester United to a deal.
The Red Devils were heavily linked with a move for Haaland during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign, with the Norwegian confirming last year that he instructed United to bring his compatriot to Old Trafford on more than one occasion.
Manchester United failed to follow Solskjaer’s advice, however, allowing Man City to sign the generational talent, who has already won two Premier League titles, two Golden Boot awards and the Champions League at the Etihad Stadium.
Old Trafford legend Dwight Yorke has criticised United for ‘not doing enough’ to sign Haaland and says they should have paid £150m if necessary to secure his services.
‘The guy is phenomenal, honestly,’ Yorke, who lifted three successive league titles at Manchester United and was part of the 1999 Champions League-winning team, said on beIN SPORTS.
‘In those three years when Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] was hovering about and looking to get him, I would have paid £150m for him at the time.
‘I would have paid over the odds and spent £150m to get him.
‘If I was United and were serious about taking the club forward – especially when United could have had a little edge because of Ole – that was the moment if they had a glimmer of hope to pay £150m to get the kid.
‘I don’t think United did enough to do that. In my opinion they could have tried more. But it’s a bit late now!’
Speaking last year, Solskjaer confirmed he told Manchester United to sign Haaland when he was his manager at Norwegian side Molde.
‘Erling was with me at Molde for two seasons, more or less,’ the fellow United great said.
‘The summer before I came, I rang the club and said: “You have to sign this boy, he is going to be absolutely top class.” That was in June or July and they said they didn’t have enough reports.
‘By the time I came in as caretaker, we [Molde] had sold him to Salzburg. I tell the club straight away: “Buy him.” He had a release clause. No-one else then would have paid that money.
‘It was 20m euros and it would have been a bargain. It was the club’s decision to not go for him then.
‘We didn’t go for him until he started scoring for Salzburg but then Dortmund, Juventus, everyone was there.’
Haaland scored twice to help Manchester City recover from conceding after just 23 seconds and beat Brentford 2-1 at the weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s side are the only team to boast a perfect record in the Premier League after four games, having also beaten Chelsea, Ipswich Town and West Ham in an impressive start to the 2024-25 season.
City begin their Champions League campaign on Wednesday night against Inter Milan before facing Premier League title rivals Arsenal next weekend.