Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United ‘should have’ signed midfielder now ripping it up for Arsenal

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has bemoaned the fact Manchester United didn’t move to sign a midfielder he ‘really likes’ when he was in charge of the club.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge of Manchester United initially as a caretaker in late 2018 before earning the job permanently after winning 14 out of 19 games in charge.

United were recovering after the toxic end to Jose Mourinho’s reign and required investment for the squad to compete with Manchester City and Liverpool.

A lot of money was spent, with Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Donny van de Beek, Alex Telles and Amad all being signed in his first two windows.

Then Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo were signed in 2021.

However, it soon became apparent a lot of the big investment was misplaced and Solskjaer didn’t get several players he wanted.

The Norwegian had striker Erling Haaland and midfielder Jude Bellingham on his radar but the club failed to sign them.

Solskjaer has also revealed he wanted the club to make a move for Declan Rice.

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Solskjaer says United should have signed Declan Rice

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Solskjaer said: “Yeah, [there was interest] I really, really like him as a player.

“We discussed him a few times and I think we would have done well with him in midfield. I think his legs, covering the pitch.

“I think he improved a lot on his playmaking as well.

“Yeah [he was available]. Obviously, he would have cost some money but we could have and should have gone for him.”

Another missed opportunity

No one can say Solskjaer didn’t have a lot of funding in his team and he said himself in the podcast United never signed a player he didn’t want.

But it’s clear something in the recruitment drive went wrong somewhere given so many of the big-money signings haven’t worked out as well as hoped.

Only Fernandes has been a truly successful signing from that era and United had long been linked with him before Solskjaer took charge.

Rice would have been a great addition and exactly what United needed. Probably still do.

An all-action midfielder who can break up play and add steel to the middle but has real quality on the ball to drive the team forward.

But like with Haaland and Bellingham, would Rice be as good as he is today at Arsenal if he joined United instead?