Solskjaer opens up on Haaland miss and chats Man Utd transfer plan

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists he is happy with Manchester United’s striker options after the club missed out on the signature of Erling Haaland to Borussia Dortmund.

After months of speculation linking the former RB Salzburg striker with a move to Old Trafford, Borussia Dortmund announced the capture of the 19-year-old on Sunday in one of the signings of the season.

The Norwegian has been in blistering form this season, having scored 28 goals in 22 games – including five hat-tricks – but has declared that he had little doubt that moving to the Bundesliga was the right career choice.

And while the news is likely to come as a huge blow to Solskjaer, who is understood to have flown to Austria to speak to Haaland, he insists the failure to sign his fellow Norwegian does not leave him under-staffed in attack as it was suggested to him that he was wrong to sell Romelu Lukaku before a replacement had been brought in.

“Romelu’s a good striker and he’ll always score goals but it was time for him to move on,” Solskjaer said.

In reference to missing out on Haaland, Solskjaer said: “We didn’t find the right one outside our club but we now have Mason [Greenwood].

“Mason’s on eight now. Marcus [Rashford] I don’t know – 14 or 15? Anthony [Martial] has quite a few.”

Tuesday’s papers have linked United with a move for Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Solskjaer also said the way a new signing would fit into the dressing room would be key to their considerations in January.

“I’m optimistic we can keep players fit and if the right ones become available we do have the resources,” he said.

“There’s no point suddenly bringing someone else in now for the sake of three or four months if that can disrupt any good feeling or chemistry in the group, because the chemistry in the group is really good.

“It has to be the right type and it has to be a good investment for the long term as well.”

Addressing United’s strike options further, Solskjaer continued: “We always believed Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford were going to score goals but Mason has filled a big void.

“I’m not worried about goals from centre-forwards.”

Elsewhere, another report from The Independent has claimed that United offered the best package to Haaland of any of the interested clubs, which included RB Leipzig and Juventus.

However, Haaland opted for Dortmund due to the German top flight being the best league for him to continue his development.

Reports have also said that with United missing out on Haaland, they are now prepared to zone in on Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho.

The England international has reportedly been on the Red Devils’ radar for some time and the club are now ready to go all out to sign him.

Sancho has scored 12 goals and assisted 13 others in 24 appearances so far this term.