The brutal first comment Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made to Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland has revealed the brutal first words Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and how it spurred him on to become the deadliest striker in the Premier League.

Haaland worked with Manchester United legend Solskjaer at Molde and he went on to score 20 goals in 50 games for them before moving on to Red Bull Salzburg.

He joined from Byrne in 2017 but Solskjaer wasn't too impressed with his fellow striker to begin with and told him as much.

Recalling in an extended interview with GQ, Haaland said: “The first thing I think he said to me was, ‘You have no idea how to head the ball. We have to work on that."

They did indeed work on that, constantly whipping in crosses so that he improved his aerial prowess.

“This is what we did for two years, the whole period I was in Molde," Haaland added.

"And it was a good thing, because I couldn’t hit the ball, and now I’m scoring goals with my head – thanks to them.”

Haaland has notched an incredible 163 goals in his career, with 14 coming from headers. He now gets on the end of delicious crosses from the likes of Kevin De Bruyne at Manchester City, who he has scored 27 goals in 24 appearances for since joining in the summer from Borussia Dortmund.

Image: Alamy

Solskjaer and Haaland met again in December 2019 when he was United boss and the former left with the feeling that a deal was done for the then-Red Bull Salzburg striker.

However, Ed Woodward, United's executive-vice-chairman at the time, would not agree to the fees from agent Mino Raiola and the insistence of a release clause in the contract.

Instead Haaland joined Dortmund on a four-year deal and developed into one of the world's best strikers, hitting 86 goals in 89 games all competitions.

He's replicated that form in a City shirt, though he will hope to finally get off the mark in 2023 against Spurs on Thursday.

Image: Alamy

Asked about his goals with City, Haaland commented: “I will try to do everything in my power to win trophies here with Manchester City and to try to be the game changer. “My goal is to win the Champions League, hopefully.”

Topics: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester City, Manchester United, Erling Haaland

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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