Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's face told the whole story as he reflected on decision to reject a young .

United's decision to ignore advice to sign a teenage Haaland for just £4million looks even more ludicrous now after resorted to deploying midfielder up front in Sunday's home defeat to .

Mainoo was with goal-shy Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee left on the bench, while United had explored potential January transfer window deals for forward Christopher Nkunku and Bayern Munich's Mathys Tel. The former stayed put while Tel eventually decided to join after initially rejecting a move to north London.

Meanwhile, United must press on with a shortage of both quality and quantity in their frontline. It could have been very different, though, had United listened to Solskjaer's advice when he was in charge of Molde – the Norwegian side he managed between 2015 and 2018.

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One of his players was a certain Haaland, who was already a striking sensation at the age of 17. Speaking at an event in Manchester in 2023, Solskjaer recalled tipping off United about Haaland when he was at Molde.

Solskjaer said, via : "I got in contact with United because we had this talented striker who they should have had. But they didn't listen, unfortunately.

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"Four million, I asked for. But they never signed him. Four million! Don't ask [where he is now]. He's too good…" As he told the story, he reportedly wore a look that said, 'no, I can't believe it either'.

Of course, Solskjaer would go on to manage United, finishing third and second in his two full seasons in charge, albeit well behind City, who would sign Haaland in 2022. The Norwegian has gone on to smash a variety of goalscoring records for the Red Devils' neighbours, just to rub salt into United's wounds.

While Solskjaer's reign was regarded as a disappointment, those were heady days compared to the drudgery United fans are suffering today. Down in 13th in the table and closer to the relegation zone than the spots, Amorim is trying all sorts to coax something positive from his squad of misfits.

Speaking after the 2-0 Palace defeat, he said: "We are trying everything to improve the team without doing mistakes of the past, and trying to balance the urgency of the moment. So, we know all of the aspects of our club in the moment, but we are trying everything."

Next up for United is a visit from Ruud van Nistelrooy's City in the fourth round on Friday night, and it will be interesting to see who Amorim opts for in attack this time.

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