Former Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reportedly wanted the Red Devils to sign three elite players when Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club in 2021.
Since Man United has been one of the Premier League’s biggest spenders, they have undoubtedly had their fair share of bad transfer decisions during the previous ten years, and this hasn’t exactly translated into success.
The Red Devils spent a lot of money on players like Jadon Sancho, Donny Van de Beek, and 36-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo during Solskjaer’s tenure as United’s manager.
Solskjaer wanted Haaland, Rice and Bellingham
According to a Daily Mail feature report, Solskjaer wanted to sign Declan Rice, Erling Haaland, and Jude Bellingham—all of whom are currently regulars on the Ballon d’Or nominations list—but Man United rejected his requests.
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Rice was still at West Ham at the time, and he was already a top-tier midfielder searching for his next opportunity.
United could have acquired him for significantly less than Arsenal paid for him (£105 million), since Solskjaer intended to sign him two years prior to his transfer to the Gunners.
Bellingham, who was at Borussia Dortmund at the time, would have probably cost about £50 million instead of the £112 million Real Madrid paid for him in 2023.
Just think of the midfield that United could have had with Rice and Bellingham.
The fact that Solskjaer wanted to sign Haaland—who, of course, has become a club legend for Manchester City and is arguably one of the greatest pure goal scorers the Premier League has ever seen—may be the one that hurts United supporters the most.
Haaland was at Dortmund at the time Solskjaer was at United, and rival City had already expressed interest in him.
Due to Haaland’s release clause at the Signal Iduna Park, Pep Guardiola famously signed him for just £51 million. He was worth much more even at that point, thus City got a good deal.
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