Former Manchester United winger Andrei Kanchelskis says Erling Haaland wouldn't be as successful in the Russian Premier League as he has been with Manchester City.

FC Rostov football chief Alexei Ryskin has revealed they turned down the chance to sign Haaland in 2017 as they were reluctant to meet Molde's €3m asking price.

Reacting to the news, Kanchelskis told RB Sport: “They said that Haaland could go to Rostov and CSKA? And why does he play in Manchester City then? Populism? Naturally. Let them show the papers, but there is only a lot of pathos - they like to speak in hindsight with us. If they wanted him, they would have bought him.

"Fans joke that Haaland would have scored 35 goals for Khimki in two matches? Well, no, it would be more difficult for him to play in the RPL. He has (Kevin) De Bruyne in midfield, who do we have? It would have been more difficult for Haaland to play in the RPL, he would not have scored 35 goals in a season. It is more difficult to play in our championship than in the Premier League - the level of players in the RPL is lower, so all such talents play with them, and not with us.

"We have such a 'high' level of football that (Artem) Dzyuba, having not played football for half a year, breaks the entire championship - he simply mocks the people who buried him. I think Erling would score 25 goals a season, but not 35 for sure. We can only guess."