Manchester United 'an hour late' to sign Erling Haaland in yet another huge transfer gaffe

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag looks dejected with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland alongside him
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Manchester United agonisingly missed out on signing Erling Haaland by an hour in 2018, after they failed to contact Norwegian side Molde in time to complete the deal. 

On August 18, 2018, Red Bull Salzburg announced that Haaland would be joining the club on January 1, 2019. Despite interest from around Europe, the Austrian champions secured his signature - but things could have turned out very differently had Manchester United acted faster. 

Former Everton scout Bryan King explains how Manchester United were working extremely hard to sign Haaland during that period, with the club's relationship with Molde - then managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - making a potential deal more likely.

Erling Braut Haland of Molde FK in action during the UEFA Europa League play-offs first leg match between FC Zenit Saint Petersburg and Molde FK on August 23, 2018 at Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Photo by Mike Kireev/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Manchester United

United had the opportunity to sign Haaland while he played for Molde (Image credit: Getty Images)

 A huge transfer gaffe ensued, however, with the summer break seeing Manchester United officials lose track of time and phone Molde an hour late, which ultimately handed Haaland over to Red Bull Salzburg in the process. 

“I said to Haaland’s dad that I’d love him to go over to Everton so we could have a look at him, and sure enough we managed to work it,” King said on The Inside Track podcast. “He came over for three or four days and did OK, but the general opinion was that because of his size, would he be as effective?

“But Manchester United should have definitely signed Haaland. I know the chief Scandinavian 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.

Manchester United: Erling Haaland celebrates scoring his 50th Premier League goal

Haaland has since been showing United what they missed out on  (Image credit: Getty Images)

“The guy who was handling Haaland’s deal from Molde to Red Bull Salzburg was Jim Solbakken and he has good connections with Manchester 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!”

Of course, Haaland has since gone onto become a world beater for Borussia Dortmund and now Manchester City, leaving Manchester United to rue what might have been. 

The Norwegian struck 29 goals in just 27 games for Red Bull Salzburg, highlighting his talent and what could have been for Manchester United. Oh, and he only cost less than £7m, too. 

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Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.