Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed the three huge signings Manchester United failed to pull off during his time as manager.
Solskjaer took charge of 168 games at United, winning 91 and finishing with a win percentage of 54%.
He was sacked in November 2021 following a dire run which culminated in a 4-1 defeat to Watford.
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Despite offers on the table, 51-year-old is yet to return to management and has been reflecting on his time at United.
The Norwegian appeared on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, and conversation turned to some of the transfers which never materialised.
There were three huge players Solskjaer wanted to sign, who have since accrued more than £245 million in transfer fees in the past two years.
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Solskjaer was Erling Haaland's manager at Molde and even before he was in the United hotseat, told his former employers to sign him in 2018.
When he was caretaker boss, Solskjaer was adamant that the club should sign him from RB Salzburg for a dirt-cheap €20 million.
But by the time United's interest was serious, other top clubs were circling and Borussia Dortmund won the race for Haaland.
Haaland became one of the top strikers in the world before moving to United's rivals City, where he has scored an incredible 80 goals in 84 games and won four trophies.
Solskjaer said: “I had him [Erling Haaland] in Molde, for two seasons. The summer before I got here [joined Manchester United], I rang the club and said ‘You’ve got to sign this boy – he’ll be top class’. That was June/July 2018, and they said no – they had enough reports on players. Then I became the caretaker manager [of United], and we’d sold Haaland to RB Salzburg. I tell the club straight away to buy him while he has a release clause. We knew that then, and no one else would’ve paid the money - €20 million, it would’ve been a bargain. "Even though with his links with Alfie [Haaland], and Manchester City and Leeds.
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"It was the club’s decision to not go for it then. We never made bids or went in for him, until after he started scoring for Salzburg. By then, Borussia Dortmund were there, Juventus were there, everyone was there. His release clause then was still good - €60 million."
Solskjaer was also high on Haaland's former Dortmund colleague Jude Bellingham who has since scored 20 goals in a stunning debut season at Real Madrid.
But when he was a rising star at Birmingham, United were desperately trying to acquire him.
They pulled out all the stops and gave Bellingham and his family a guided tour of Old Trafford and the Carrington training complex, with Sir Alex Ferguson, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona all present.
He also spoke with Solskjaer and United’s chief transfer negotiator Matt Judge and a move looked promising.
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However Bellingham wanted first-team football from the off and got that at Dortmund, where he developed into a world-beater.
“Jude [Bellingham], he was in the building," Solskjaer explained.
"I was there, Sir Alex Ferguson was there, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona were all there that day when he came to the club. We all spoke to him and sold it as well as he could. He knew what he wanted a certain amount of minutes in the first team. He was 17 at the time, and he was the most mature 17-year-old I’ve ever met – he had it all planned out.”
In another world, United could have had England's midfield pairing as Solskjaer was also a big fan of Declan Rice, who has been in fine form for Arsenal after a £105 million switch from West Ham in the summer.
Looking back, Solskjaer regrets not pursuing a deal.
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He continued: "I really like him [Declan Rice] as a player – we’ve discussed him a few times, and I think we would’ve done well with him in midfield. His legs, covering the pitch, and I think he improved a lot on his playmaking as well. Obviously, he would’ve cost some money, but we could’ve and should’ve gone for him.”
Featured Image Credit: The OverlapTopics: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United, Premier League, Erling Haaland, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham