FC Salzburg forward Erling Braut Haland is considered one of the best young up-and-coming forwards in global football today. Scoring a hat trick in his Champions League debut, where his side beat Genk 6-2, Haland got himself on the radar of some of the world’s biggest clubs.
That includes Manchester United, as they are managed by Haland’s old boss at Molde, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. When Haland put on his goal scoring show a week ago, Solskjaer was full of high praise for his former player.
Today, Haland returned the favor, speaking very highly of Solskjaer, and expressing his desire to play in Premier League some day. Seems like a perfect match doesn’t it?
“It’s great watching him,” Solskjaer said of Haland on Sept. 17.
“Everyone in Norway is excited about his development.”
United are in desperate need of centre forward depth (the long term injury to Marcus Rashford has shown that), they let Romelu Lukaku go without replacing him, Erling Braut Haland badly wants to go to the Premiership and United have the perfect in, via their manager.
Let the transfer rumors fly in 2020 and beyond.
“He has had a huge impact on my life, both as a person and as a coach,” Haland said of Solskjaer to Norwegian television network TV2.
“He won the Champions League and was an incredibly good player. He has taught me a lot. Solskjaer is a fantastic person and a very good coach. He is one of the reasons I am here today.”
The 19-year-old Norwegian, who was born in Leeds, England, hopes to play in Britain’s top flight some day.
“I have dreamed of playing for the best clubs in the world my whole life, and I especially like English football,” the 6’3″ scoring machine added.
Given his size and the area of the world that he comes from, Erling Braut Haland has drawn plenty of comparisons to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Given all that the mercurial Swede has accomplished, some of which was in a United shirt, it’s only natural that Haland welcomes such analogies
“There is something about the way he became good and the way he plays. For me, Zlatan is the best,” the teenage centre forward prodigy continues
“He is from Scandinavia, so someone has to take over for him.”
Solskjaer and United begin their EFL Cup campaign tonight, with a third round tie against Rochdale at home. They currently sit a very disappointing eighth in the league table, and host Arsenal on Monday night.
Manchester United vs Rochdale League Cup 3rd Round FYIs
Starting XI Prediction, Team News: go to this link
Kickoff: Wed Sept 25, Old Trafford, 8pm
Odds via SofaScore United win -1000 Draw 1000 Rochdale win 2000
Form Guide: United LWWDLD Rochdale LDLLWW
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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