Premier League
What A Twist! Haaland Was Originally For Man United Before A Sudden Switch To City –
Erling Haaland was originally Manchester United – bound having worked with former manager and compatriot, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Molde FK in Norway, their country.
But the player with a remarkable goalscoring record ended up in the opposite direction, Manchester United.
It has been 18 months since Haaland got into the English Premier League, but according to Mirror, Manchester United fans are already sick of the sight of him.
Haaland’s goals contributed to Manchester City grabbing a trebble last season.
By last Sunday’s Premier League match, Haaland has played against Manchester United four times and had scored six goals and another three assists.
But had things turned out slightly differently, Haaland could have been playing for the Red Devils instead of conspiring against them.
Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was one of the first people to recognise Haaland’s prodigious talents after working with him at Molde.
A reunion at Old Trafford seemed logical, only for Haaland to end up at Borussia Dortmund.
Solskjaer’s former teammate, Gary Neville, asked Haaland about that shortly after he arrived at City. Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: “Ole was your manager. How are you not at Manchester United?”. Haaland’s response was simple: “You have to ask him.”
Solskjaer, meanwhile, revealed last year that he had flagged Haaland to United long before he was on the radar of Europe’s elite. At the time the youngster would have been available for just £4million – but the club hierarchy chose to ignore Solskjaer’s tip.
The Norwegian said: “I called United about six months before I took over and told them that I’d got this striker that we had but they didn’t listen. I asked for £4million for Haaland but they didn’t sign him.”
Haaland revealed that Solskjaer had congratulated him on his move to Manchester City in the summer of 2022 before wishing him all the best at his new club. The pair have remained in touch from their time at Molde, where Haaland scored 20 goals in 50 games during Solskjaer’s tenure.
Although he’s close with Solskjaer, he admitted that the opportunity to work with Pep Guardiola was one of the key factors behind his decision to join Manchester City. Speaking at the time, Haaland said of his move: “Well, Pep didn’t have to sell the club to me, that’s for sure. He didn’t have to sell anything. For starters, he’s a special trainer and that was so important to me.
“We all know what he has done for his clubs, but also for players and for the game in general. That’s something I want to be part of. I think we can have a lot of fun together.”
Premier League
Premier League rejects City request to delay next season’s games after Club World Cup
The Premier League has rejected Manchester City’s request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the U.S., the club’s manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15. The Premier League’s season will begin in August.
An increasingly packed soccer calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players’ union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.
The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.
“I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)… maybe we’ll play less games,” Guardiola told reporters.
“The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don’t postpone these games so that will be the moment of, oh, what do we have to do?”
He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.
-Reuters
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said a decision about under-fire manager Erik ten Hag is not his call, and was reticent about whether he still has faith in the team’s boss amid their worst start to the Premier League season since 1986-87.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” Ratcliffe told the BBC. “I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“That team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April — Omar (Berrada, CEO), (Sporting Director) Dan Ashworth — they only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there . . . you can count it in weeks almost — they’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.”
Ten Hag’s job was the subject of speculation for much of last season en route to the team’s lowest Premier League finish of eighth. After an FA Cup final victory over Manchester City and an end-of-season review, however, Ten Hag signed a new contract to extend his stay at Old Trafford until 2026.
“Our objective is very clear, we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously, that’s very clear,” Ratcliffe said.
Ten Hag continues to plead for patience from fans with the team languishing 13th in the Premier League table, having lost three of their six opening games. They were headed towards defeat by Porto in the Europa League on Thursday before Harry Maguire scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a 3-3 draw.
-Reuters
Arsenal can go all the way and end their 21-year wait for a Premier League title this season, winger Bukayo Saka said after his side beat Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain 2-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Arsenal finished runners-up in 2022-23 and took the Premier League title race to the final day last season before once again finishing second behind Manchester City.
The north London side are in the mix this season, sitting third in the league standings, and their impressive victory over French heavyweights PSG underlined their title credentials, with Kai Havertz and Saka scoring in the match.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on us but I do think that this is the year (that we can win the title),” Saka told CBS Sports.
“I think we’ve been close the last two years and we’re getting closer but this hopefully will be the year.”
Saka, who has established himself as a key player at Arsenal and was their top-scorer in the Premier League last season, said the club’s near misses had left him hungry for success.
“Previous years, I’ve come runners-up a lot. It’s just that spirit in me that I want to win this season and of course, I believe in myself a lot,” the 23-year-old told Amazon Prime.
“With those two things, it helps. We believe in ourselves, we believe we’re a top team. We showed that tonight (against PSG). I did tell the boys we have to make a statement when big teams are coming to the Emirates.”
Arsenal next host 19th-placed Southampton in a league match on Saturday.
-Reuters
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