Erling Haaland has enjoyed a record breaking first season in the Premier League with Manchester City (Picture: Getty)

Erling Haaland could have been a Manchester United player at a cost of just £4million had the club heeded the advice of former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

‘The Baby-Faced Assassin’ as he was nicknamed during his playing days at Old Trafford coached Manchester City’s record-breaking striker during his formative years at Molde.

Even at that stage, Haaland was already carving out a reputation as a potential goalscoring great and Solskjaer recommended him to United back in 2018, shortly before he took over the managerial reigns on an interim basis from Jose Mourinho.

Solskajer, as reported by The Sun, said: ‘I called United about six months before I took over and told them that I’d got this striker that we had but they didn’t listen.

‘I asked for £4million for Haaland but they didn’t sign him.’

Haaland instead moved to RB Salzburg where he spent a solitary season before snubbing United and Solskjaer in preference of a move to Borussia Dortmund.

United missed out on the Norway international again last summer when Haaland joined their local rivals and he has since gone on to enjoy a record-breaking maiden campaign in England.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erling Haaland worked together at Molde (Picture: Instagram)

The Red Devils, meanwhile, have made progress under Erik ten Hag but a prolific striker remains the obvious, glaring weakness in their squad.

United have managed just 49 goals in the Premier League this season, only 14 more than Haaland has managed himself, with Anthony Martial struggling to maintain fitness and January recruit Wout Weghorst painfully inadequate.

Despite struggling for goals, United are still in pole position to claim a top four spot and Erik ten Hag insists high-profile players are still keen to join the club.

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He said: ‘I see a big difference in comparison with last year,’ he said.

‘There were a lot of reservations last year when I spoke with players and now many players see the project, what’s going on, the dynamic and the ambition in this project, the quality especially. They are really keen to come, I’ve noticed that.

‘It looks like there were a lot of reservations last year, a lot of doubts when we approached players. This year, many quality players really want to come.’

MORE : Erik ten Hag says his summer transfer targets ‘really want to come’ to Manchester United

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An absolute disaster!