The Norwegian had an opportunity to join mentor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer early in his career but he has been a thorn in United's side ever since

Erling Haaland had hit all the right notes during his presentation after signing for Manchester City but he knew what the crowd wanted and left the best until last. Asked which game he was most looking forward to, the Norwegian smiled, looking out to the large crowd on a rare sun-drenched day outside the Etihad Stadium. "I have to say I don't like the words," he began. "But Manchester United, yeah!"

Haaland's first game against City's hated rivals could hardly have gone better as he scored a hat-trick and set up two more in a 6-3 win at the Etihad. Since then he has lost 2-1 at Old Trafford, won an FA Cup final 2-1 at Wembley and scored twice in a 3-0 drubbing on enemy territory.

City play United back on their home turf on Sunday and Haaland's confidence couldn't be higher after firing in five goals in the 6-2 demolition of Luton Town. He will be licking his lips about twisting the knife into the struggling Red Devils, who are back in crisis mode after a brief respite and will be severely depleted by injuries.

But Haaland's history with United is a little more complicated than you might think…

GettyKeane and his father

Haaland's upbringing was fertile to despising United as his father Alfie played for two of their biggest rivals in Leeds and City. Haaland Senior was not exactly a bystander in either rivalry. As a Leeds player he once referred to United as 'scum' and he had an infamous spat with Roy Keane in a match at Elland Road in 1997, when the United captain at the time blamed him for injuring his knee and telling him to get up when he was in agony.

Haaland denies trying to injure Keane or laughing at him. "He tried to tackle me and I got the free-kick," he said years later. "He was lying on the ground and I just told him to ‘get up’ as you normally do with players – nothing more than that. I wasn’t trying to intend anything against him, but obviously he took that very hard."

He was right about that. Never one to forget a grudge, Keane carried that sense of injustice with him for four years and exacted his revenge in a 2001 Manchester derby at Old Trafford when Haaland was playing for City, flying into his opponent's right knee. The former Ireland international wrote in his autobiography: "I'd waited long enough. I f*****g hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***. And don't ever stand over me again sneering about fake injuries."

Keane was fined £5,000 ($6,300) and given a three-match ban at the time. And a year later when he revealed the tackle was intentional, he was fined an extra £150,000 ($189,000) and suspended for a further five games. Haaland retired at the age of 30, two years after the infamous tackle. He later reflected: "I haven’t played a full 90 minutes after that incident, that’s the hard fact. Obviously I found out afterwards that it was with intent and he was seeking revenge and all these things. I think that’s a bit sad."

AdvertisementGetty Good-natured banter

Haaland Junior has shown no interest in dwelling on the incident, claiming he had never spoken to his dad about it. And when United fans chanted 'Keano' before he took his penalty at Old Trafford earlier this season, he played dumb. He said: "A lot of people were singing 'Keano', I don’t know why. But, it is what it is. I had the pressure and I scored – it was a fantastic feeling."

The striker enjoys exchanging insults with United fans when he comes across them but does not take the rivalry too seriously. "Look, it’s all about banter and I enjoy that. I’ve already met some United supporters here in the city, and we’re always joking with each other. It’s about not taking everything too seriously," he told

"There are a lot of United fans in my home town in Norway, so I’ve always had to have a go at them. I’m used to this and I love it. Don’t take things too seriously. I want to be able to talk a bit like the fans, otherwise it gets a bit boring, doesn’t it?"

Getty A strong bond with Solskjaer

But Haaland was not far from joining United on two occasions. He admitted he owes a lot to Red Devils legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who played a key role in the early stage of his career.

Haaland had had a difficult start to life as a professional when he broke into the first team at Bryne, aged 16. He failed to score in 16 matches for his hometown club but fared better at Molde under the tutelage of Solskjaer, scoring 14 times.

"Solskjaer has had a huge impact on my life, both as a person and as a trainer," Haaland said in September 2019, when he was playing for RB Salzburg and his old boss was now in charge of Manchester United. "He won the Champions League and was an incredibly good player. He has taught me a lot. I have dreamed of playing for the best clubs in the world my whole life, and I especially like English football."

Solskjaer did his best to try and reunite with Haaland by bringing him to United. Just three months later, after Haaland had taken the Champions League by storm by scoring eight times for Salzburg, the United boss at the time flew to meet the striker's entourage, including Alfie.

Getty United's 'arrogance' blocks transfer

The main stumbling block was the terms of the contract, which Haaland's agent Mino Raiola had drawn up. According to , Raiola wanted to secure a share from future sales of Haaland and insert a low buy-out clause which would become active within two years.

In other words, this was a deal that favoured Haaland and his representatives far more than it did the club. And United, who described the terms as 'bad for the industry', were not willing to play ball.

Dortmund, who have done remarkably well by giving young players a chance and then parting with them within a few years for big money, were much more flexible and accepted the terms, agreeing a £17m ($21m) fee with Salzburg. Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke later admitted: "We gave Erling Haaland a release clause, otherwise he would have gone to Manchester United."

That clause meant Dortmund only made £51m ($64m) when Haaland signed for City two-and-a-half years later, a considerably low fee considering the player's age and his astonishing tally of 86 goals in 89 games. Still, the Bundesliga side did pretty well out of the deal in sporting and financial terms.

Should United have been more flexible? One could argue that they were in no position to reject a player of Haaland's talent at the time. Their top scorer the previous season was Paul Pogba, with 19 goals, while the following campaign it was Anthony Martial on 23. Haaland would have comfortably outscored both.

“I think that was a bit of arrogance by Manchester United because they're a big club," said ex-Man City winger Trevor Sinclair on . "They’ve said, ‘We're not accepting that’. Who can afford not to have a player like Haaland for three years and then sell him for three times the money, if he wants to go?"