Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to sign five players to build Man Utd super team but the club didn't listen
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted Manchester United to sign five players in order to build a super-team, but the club ultimately were not successful.
Solskjaer first took charge of United on an interim basis back December 2018 after Jose Mourinho was sacked, before being appointed on a permanent basis.
The Norwegian won 91 games out of 168 and finished with a win percentage of 54%, as well as leading United to the Europa League final in 2021.
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During his time at United, Solskaer's signings included the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Raphael Varane.
But there were also five huge priority transfers which Solskjaer was not able to get over the line. During an interview with The Athletic in 2023, Solskjaer opened up about his top targets and how he felt they could all have a transformative impact on the team.
The five players Solskjaer wanted at United
Compatriot Erling Haaland, who played under him at Molde and went on to sign for rivals Manchester City, was wanted by Solskjaer.
But he also wanted to strengthen the midfield with Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo, who are now two of the most expensive central midfielders in world football after their respectives moves to Arsenal and Chelsea.
Then there were a further two England stars in Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, but again pursuits were unsuccessful.
Asked about players he tried to sign, Solskjaer recalled: "Erling Haaland, before he made his Salzburg debut. Declan Rice, who wouldn’t have cost what he did in the summer. We discussed Moises Caicedo, but we felt we needed players ready for there and then. Brighton are very good at letting players come from abroad and find their feet for a year and a half. At United, you don’t have that luxury and that has cost the club loads of players.
"We wanted Jude Bellingham badly — he’s a Man United player, but I respect he chose Dortmund. That was probably sensible. But it’s why I respect Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Dan James and Jado [Sancho]. Young players prepared to come into a team that wasn’t 100 per cent there like it was when I arrived.
"I would have signed Kane every day of the week and my understanding was that he wanted to come. But the club didn’t have the budget with the financial constraints from Covid-19, there was no bottomless pit."
Later on, during an appearance on the Stick to Football podcast, Solskjaer delved into three of the mammoth deals he wanted to get done.
On Haaland, he said: "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.
"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."
He explained that Bellingham was "in the building" as a 17-year-old and had a tour featuring Sir Alex Ferguson, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona but wanted minutes in the tank.
Rice, meanwhile, has developed into an extremely complete footballer and Solskjaer believes his side "would've done well with him in midfield" given the energy he provides.
Though he would not have come on the cheap, Solskjaer admitted that United "could’ve and should’ve gone for him.”
The 51-year-old had an extended period out of the game after his United dismissal but is now enjoying life at Besiktas, where he has won four games out of six since taking the job in January.
Topics: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Premier League, Man Utd
Josh Lawless