Reports this morning claimed that Red Bull Salzburg striker Erling Haaland flew to Manchester as United close in a move for the 19-year-old.

According to the Daily Mail, the £76 million-rated Haaland and his father arrived in England ahead of a proposed move in the January transfer window.

The Norwegian outlet say the flight left from Stavanger Airport at 9:45am local time and landed in England at 10:15am GMT.

The report that Haaland flew to Manchester to speak with United was download by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in his Friday press conference, though.

"I don't think he's en route here, to be fair," the United boss told reporters. "Not through me anyway!

"You know I can't comment on other teams' players, I've said that many times and it's one of those things in this job you get speculation a lot of the time."

Solskjaer was then told that Norwegian reporters had witnessed Haaland boarding the plane.

"Well... he's not coming to Manchester," Solskjaer responded. "I know the boy and I know his friends and he's on a Christmas holiday."

So, why would he be flying to Manchester then?

"You can't fly anywhere from Stavanger, you need to go via via," Solskjaer said.

Solskjaer hasn't failed to hide his admiration for Haaland, who he handed a senior debut to while manager of Molde.

"He is a player I like," the 46-year-old told Norwegian TV channel Viasport.

"We are looking for good players all the time.

"Erling has had a good development, so he has to develop further wherever he decides.

"I don’t need to talk so much about him, but we as a team always look for players who can complement the others we have, and then we see what we end up with."

Solskjaer was never going to disclose information about Haaland's trip to Manchester.

Maybe he was telling the truth, maybe he wasn't.

But it's clear that the Red Devils appear to be in pole position to sign the coveted striker.