Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has already hinted at the shock reason why a remarkable transfer to Manchester United failed to materialise earlier this season

It’s been far from straightforward for Erling Haaland since his blockbuster move to the Premier League in the summer.

Despite the fact that the 22-year-old has plundered 25 league goals in just 20 matches for Manchester City this term, the Norwegian forward’s contributions have been scrutinised in recent weeks – with Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher even suggesting that he had “picked the wrong club” after his ineffective display against Tottenham last Sunday.

There is no suggestion that anybody at Manchester City agrees with that stance, though: something that midfielder Ilkay Gundogan made clear ahead of Sunday’s crunch meeting against Aston Villa.

The reigning champions fended off interest from a host of top European clubs to land Haaland, who had become one of Europe’s most sought-after strikers during his prolific two-and-a-half year stint at Borussia Dortmund.

Manchester United were just one of the club’s who were heavily linked to Haaland before he was snapped up by City, and he was well known to United’s ex-boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who worked with a young Haaland at his old club, Molde, in Norway.

However, Haaland has already hinted that the reason he isn’t playing for City’s bitter rivals is, surprisingly, Solskjaer himself. When he was asked by Solskjaer’s former teammate Gary Neville why he hadn’t joined his compatriot at Old Trafford earlier this season, Haaland simply retorted: “You have to ask him.”

After failing to live up to expectations against Tottenham last weekend, Haaland and Manchester City will be desperate to return to winning ways against Aston Villa on Sunday – particularly after Arsenal dropped precious points in the title race against Brentford on Saturday afternoon.

Haaland will be looking to add to his 25 goals already this term when Pep Guardiola’s side welcome Villa to the Etihad. Carragher claimed that the champions could be getting even more out of their new No.9 and believes that playing with an orthodox forward has made them a “lesser team”.

But Gundogan has scotched that suggestion – and believes that Haaland’s remarkable goal tally is evidence of the impact he has had on Manchester City. He told Sky Sports Germany: “If you score 25 goals in 20 games, you fit into a team!

“Our game has become a bit different because of Erling’s qualities. Both he and the team have to adjust to that. We’ve already had outstanding games in this campaign, and I can remember that a few weeks ago everything was hyped up.

“It’s important for us to stay calm [in the title race]. We have to realise that we weren’t good enough in the last few games – that goes for everyone. Everyone has to look in the mirror and know that they have to step it up a notch. If we want to close the gap to Arsenal, we can’t afford any more mistakes.”

SOURCE: mirror.co.uk