According to Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, Celtic’s scouts were present as Molde travelled to Glenavon in a Europa League qualifying tie on Wednesday – and surprisingly was defeated.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team were expected to come back home with a positive result, but after Elrik Hestad had put the visitors in lead, Rhys Marshall and Joshua Daniels scored, giving Glenavon a big 2-1 victory.
The second leg is still some days off, but Molde failed to impress on Wednesday night, and that may have come as a surprise to several scouts who travelled to watch the game.
Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten report that 15 clubs had their scouts present to watch the game, with Celtic one of them, though it isn’t exactly clear who the Bhoys were watching out for.
Molde do have a team brimming with potential, but the standout name is 17-year-old striker Erling Haaland, the son of ex-Manchester City and Leeds United midfielder Alf-Inge Haaland.
The 6ft 3in striker was born in Leeds but has been capped for Norway at youth level, while he has also registered 12 goals in 35 first-team appearances for Molde, including four goals in a 4-0 victory over Brann last month.
The Manchester Evening News recently reported that Manchester United are keeping tabs on Haaland, but Celtic will surely have been putting their sight on the wonderkid to weigh up their own move.
Whilst Haaland would be one for the future at United, Celtic could present him with an opportunity of first-team football, just as they have with Haaland’s compatriot Kristoffer Ajer since his arrival from IK Start.
Celtic may be able to stand contention from huge clubs like United financially, but they can give Haaland first-team football at a young age – and they are right to at least keep tabs on him, if indeed they were, ahead of a potential audacious transfer this summer.
