Ole Gunnar Solskjaer vowed Manchester United will conduct their transfer business in the right way as he refused to discuss a possible move for Erling Haaland.
Borussia Dortmund striker Haaland is a player coveted by a host of European giants, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City thought to have looked at the 20-year-old Norway international.
His father, former Leeds United and Manchester City player Alf-Inge Haaland, and agent Mino Raiola arrived in Spain on Thursday and reportedly headed for talks with new Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
There were also claims that Haaland senior and Raiola held discussions with senior Real Madrid officials on the same day. Dortmund director Michael Zorc said the Bundesliga club had made our intentions very clear to Raiola, which was generally taken to mean that Haaland will not be allowed to leave on the cheap this year, if at all.
Solskjaer would surely love to bring compatriot Haaland to United, having previously coached him at Molde, but he is not prepared to allow such club business to carry on in the public eye.
There s only so many places that a player can go to and for us, we want to focus on the ones who are here, Solskjaer said. I ve worked with Erling, but it s not right for me to talk about him. I can talk about him as an ex-coach of his, but he will make his own mind up.
Who we re in for and who we will go for, I m not going to comment on that.
35 played 35 Bundesliga matches for Borussia Dortmund, his father Alf Inge Haaland played 35 Premier League matches for Manchester City. Erling scored 32 goals, Alf Inge 3. Comparison.
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz)
Since leaving Salzburg to join Dortmund in mid-season during the 2019-20 campaign, Haaland has scored 49 goals in 49 games across all competitions at club level, including 33 in 31 appearances this term.
Only Bayern Munich s Robert Lewandowski (67) and Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo (55) have scored more club goals among players from Europe s top five leagues during the same 15-month period.
Among players with at least 25 goals in that time, only one has beaten Haaland s big chance conversion rate of 62.5 per cent.
Opta defines a big chance as where a player should reasonably be expected to score , and the player who has bettered Haaland s rate is already at United, with Bruno Fernandes finishing 69.44 per cent of such opportunities.
Solskjaer hinted United could announce some surprise signings, given the way he prefers the club to operate.
He said: I think the way the world works at the moment, you d like to do all your business on the quiet. But there s platforms everywhere, the media makes that more difficult. But hopefully we can see soon with players that no one has written about. We conduct our recruitment business, scouting and the players we re interested in, we do it the right way.
United face Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Sunday, and Solskjaer s choice of goalkeeper will come under scrutiny, with Dean Henderson and David de Gea battling to be the established number one.
Given Henderson is now an England squad member, sitting on the bench is not ideal for the 24-year-old s development, yet De Gea has been a near fixture in the United team for a decade.
I understand the question and the narrative in the media, Solskjaer said. Where there can be potential tension or controversy, that s where everyone wants to hear a comment from me.
What I can say is what I ve said so many times, that I ve got great options playing the two of them. Top keepers but of course both want to play as much as possible. That will be decided on merit. We ll have to see who we think is going to give us a win on any given day.
