Manchester United hot prospect Mats Daehli returns to Norway as he signs for Molde

Academy Player of the Year is sold having failed to make a single first-team appearance

Mats Daehli in action for the Manchester United academy (GETTY IMAGES)

Manchester United have reached an agreement with Norwegian champions Molde that will see Mats Daehli return to his homeland.

The permanent move – thought to be in the region of £1.5 million – comes after Daehli failed to make a single first-team appearance, having played for United’s academy since his move from Lyn Oslo in 2010.

He will now link up on a two-year deal with former Reds striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has led Molde to back-to-back league titles, though his side are struggling this season as they languish down in 14th position.

Solskjaer said: “We talked two-and-a-half years ago when he had to make a choice to stay or go. I recommended him to sign with United.

“However, I told him he could always come back to Norway and come to Molde. He's had two great seasons and learned plenty at United.

“He's here to develop. There's no pressure on him to come in here and turn our season around. We'll take this step by step.”

There had been high hopes for Daehli at Old Trafford having been awarded the Jimmy Murphy Player of the Year award by academy coaches, and he had been tipped with a breakthrough into the first-team within the next couple of seasons.

Talking about the move, Daehli said: “I'm very proud and happy. It has been a process, but this is a very good solution for me. I'll start training tomorrow and try to show that I deserve to play.’

Daehli is just one of a number of United youngsters that are leaving the club. Ravel Morrison left for West Ham despite being a clearly talented player, though disciplinary problems saw his Red Devils career come to a premature end.

As too did Paul Pogba, who was sold to Juventus last summer after contract talks repeatedly broke-down with former manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Pogba has since made a big impact on the Serie A and Champions League, as well as force his way into the reckoning for the French national side.