With Martin Odegaard now aged 19 and all but ready for the knacker’s yard, there’s a new Norwegian wunderkind on the scene – and he just so happens to be the progeny of a bona fide mid-era Premier League stalwart.
Erling Braut Haaland is the 17-year-old son of Alf-Inge Haaland, who made nearly 200 appearances for Man City, Leeds and Nottingham Forest and is probably most famous for his complicated relationship with Roy Keane.
Anyway, Erling is making a decent fist of emulating his old man, with the tall, teenage striker scoring six goals in his last two games for Molde (who are managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer) over in the Norwegian Eliteserien.
The first batch came last weekend against top-of-the-table Brann, wherein Haaland the Younger scored four goals in the space of 20 minutes while a scout from Manchester United watched on from the stands…
Of course, thanks to his father’s club allegiances, Erling Haaland is not overly fond of United, but it looks like the Premier League side may be interested in taking the plunge on the prolific forward.
Indeed, the United scouts were also in attendance to watch him score another two goals and lay on an assist in Molde’s 5-1 win over Valerenga on Sunday.
Asked about the prospect of Haaland receiving an offer from United after the game, Solksjaer admitted to Norwegian newspaper VG that the teenager might find it a difficult decision:
He is probably not the world’s biggest Manchester United fan.
But if they come to the door, there are not many who say no to that.
As it transpires, climbing into bed with the enemy might not be an issue after all, as Juventus have reportedly pipped United to open the bidding.
The Serie A club have slapped €5million down on the table to purloin Haaland, with the two parties meeting for talks on Monday according to TV2.
United are yet to match Juve’s offer, but it looks like they’ve definitely got their work cut out to sign the gifted young target man – especially if his dad has any say in the matter.