Reds need more than just Haaland signing
THE Norwegian journalist who broke the news Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had flown to Salzburg on Friday encountered his own aerial strife on Sunday. Their morning flight to Manchester from San Sebastian, where Norway international Martin Odegaard had lined up against Barcelona on Saturday evening, was delayed.
The reporter still overcame the Manchester traffic to make Solskjaer’s post-match press conference at Old Trafford in ample time.
Solskjaer is the opposite to the urgent Jose Mourinho in that he usually takes his seat in the press conference room an hour after fulltime, and reporters are in a rush to beat the security team’s order to lock up the stadium two hours from the final whistle.
Unsurprisingly, the Norwegian manager was asked by the Norwegian reporter about the Norwegian player. Erling Haaland was conspicuous by his absence for Red Bull Salzburg’s final fixture at Hartberg on Saturday before the two-month winter break in the Austrian league. Solskjaer was in Salzburg on the Friday.
“I don’t comment on those speculations, so that’s it,” Solskjaer stressed. “He knows what he wants to do and he knows what he’s going to do. So I don’t have to give any advice to any other teams’ players.”
Solskjaer is often opaque with injury bulletins and the candour he offered about Haaland felt significant. With 24 goals in 20 club games this term and a reputed £20m release clause that is only active in January, Solskjaer can hardly be blamed for skipping the United players’ recovery session at Carrington on Friday.
Haaland embarked on a tour of the Red Bull Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund training grounds last week, a la Odegaard five years ago. Odegaard was barely 14 when he chose to join Real Madrid and still has one appearance to his name.
As you would expect from a player with close ties to Mino Raiola, Haaland has a sense of self-worth. Although his Norwegian surname is spelt Haland, he has plumped for a double ‘a’ on the back of his shirt as it is more commercially viable.
Haaland would not have a fiveyear settling in period and enthusiasm among Reds supporters over his possible mid-season move has already been tempered, not helped by his profligate performance against Liverpool last week. Haaland wasted two presentable opportunities with the game goalless and Liverpool prevailed 2-0.
That is how fickle and unforgiving it can be in the social media era. Gareth Bale transformed from last season’s accessory to must-have item on the back of his audaciously awesome Champions League final winner against Liverpool. Harry Maguire’s social media team deliberately chose an image of his celebration at the Kop – the goal that drained Liverpool of momentum in their title challenge – for his farewell post to Leicester City fans.
Tribalism aside, some Norwegians are perplexed why there is not as much journalistic interest in Haaland as he considers following in the footsteps of Ronny Johnsen, Solskjaer, Henning Berg, Erik Nevland and Joshua King.
Haaland is an indie darling compared with the box office Alexis Sanchez transfer; a plot where United gazumped City and raided Arsenal five-and-a-half years on from Robin van Persie. Interest would intensify if Roy Keane met the Haalands at Manchester Airport.
For Solskjaer to recruit four players without one of them being a midfielder would be negligent.
United’s two most experienced midfielders have spent most of the season in the physio’s room or recuperating in Dubai and Miami and the club’s intention was to add a midfielder in the summer.
Scott McTominay and Fred have stepped up, though in games like the Everton draw their limitations are exposed. The Reds are devoid of an adept playmaker whenever teams sit deep and Solskjaer said in September ‘we’re looking for some creativity and goals.’ Creativity must take precedence.
Solskjaer clarified last week United need to sign ‘starters’ and Haaland, at 19, is not an obvious starter, however fitful Anthony Martial is four-and-a-half years into his United career.
Mason Greenwood is applying pressure, though Solskjaer has not had the courage to outright drop Martial this season, partly due to his eight-week absence with a hamstring strain.
Haaland is the highest scorer in the Champions League on seven and that is a laudable, if misleading, representation. Moussa Marega tallied five in the group stage last term with Porto, who actually progressed through to the last 16, unlike Salzburg.
Like Harry Ellis’s attempted intervention in Die Hard, signing Sanchez seemed to be a sound idea that went horrendously wrong. Sanchez put the noses of Martial and Paul Pogba out of joint and the French connection caused a disconnect between Mourinho and the United board, eventually leading to his downfall.
Martial would not be backed as staunchly if he took umbrage with another attacker upsetting the apple cart, irrespective of Joel Glazer’s fascination with him. Solskjaer rebuked Martial following his statuesque warm-up against Chelsea in April and no United player should be Teflon, least of all a £58m forward with fewer goals than the 18-year-old Greenwood.
Berg was the last established Norwegian United bought, back in 1997, and Solskjaer’s reliance on his compatriots at Cardiff smacked of nepotism. Former United academy members Magnus Eikrem and Mats Daehli shared the same agent as Solskjaer in Jim Solbakken and made 28 appearances between them.
Then there is the goalscorer Solskjaer likened Haaland to 18 months ago: “He reminds me of the type of striker Lukaku is.”
That piles pressure on Norwegian manager and player.