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Former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has spoken of missing out on Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland.

Solskjaer tried to sign both Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham and Manchester City striker Haaland as teenagers.

Solskjaer recommended Haaland to United even before he became manager of the club.

"I had him in Molde, for two seasons. The summer before I came here I called the club and said: 'You have to sign this boy. He will be top class'," he told the Stick to Football podcast.

"It was June, July 2018 and they said no. They had enough reports on players. Then I became temporary manager and we had sold Haaland to RB Salzburg. It was the club's decision not to go for him then. We never made an offer or stepped in for him, until after he started scoring goals for Salzburg. Then Borussia Dortmund was there, Juventus was there, everyone was there. His buyout clause at the time was still good - 60 million euros."

Bellingham was wanted by United before he left Birmingham City for Borussia Dortmund.

"Jude 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," says Solskjaer.

"We all talked to him and sold it as best we could. He knew what he wanted - a certain number 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."

This article first appeared on Tribal Football and was syndicated with permission.

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