During Solskjaer's tenure as United manager from December 2018 to November 2021, the Norwegian attempted to sign Bellingham from Birmingham City and Haaland from Molde and later Red Bull Salzburg, respectively. However, his advice was ignored, and the pair eventually joined Borussia Dortmund, and the rest is history.

Also Read | Indian boxer Nishant makes winning start at 1st World Olympic Qualifier

Ole Gunner Solskjaer reveals Manchester United ignored his say on Bellingham and Halland

He said on SkyBet's Stick to Football podcast: "Jude [Bellingham], he was in the building. I was there, Sir Alex Ferguson was there, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona were all there that day when he came to the club. We all spoke to him and sold it as well as he could. He knew what he wanted a certain amount of minutes in the first team. He was 17 at the time, and he was the most mature 17-year-old I’ve ever met – he had it all planned out."

On Haaland, he added: “I had him [Erling Haaland] in Molde, for two seasons. The summer before I got here [joined Manchester United], I rang the club and said, ‘You’ve got to sign this boy – he’ll be top class’. That was June/July 2018, and they said no – they had enough reports on players. Then I became the caretaker manager [of United], and we’d sold Haaland to RB Salzburg. I tell the club straight away to buy him while he has a release clause. We knew that then, and no one else would’ve paid the money - €20 million, it would’ve been a bargain. Even though with his links with Alfie [Haaland], and Manchester City and Leeds.

"It was the club’s decision to not go for it then. We never made bids or went in for him, until after he started scoring for Salzburg. By then, Borussia Dortmund were there, Juventus were there, everyone was there. His release clause then was still good - €60 million.

"He’s got more than just being a great lad. He’s such a team player, and one-on-one with a keeper, he doesn’t think about his own stats. He passes if someone else is through and it’ll be a 100% goal. He’s a gem.” SkyBet's Stick to Football podcast