Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a vision for his Manchester United team, and he will have had mixed emotions over the past 24 hours.
Manchester United fans were full of respect for the job Ole Gunnar Solskjaer performed as manager between late 2018 and 2021. While he did not win a trophy, he led the team to two second-placed finishes, results that have looked better as time has gone on.
Solskjaer was ultimately let down. The club failed to deliver his top transfer targets, and he eventually paid the cost with his job.
But we think Ole will have had a wry smile watching the World Cup action over the weekend, seeing the way his dream targets performed.
Which transfer targets do you NOT want Man Utd to sign?
Let's turn the transfer question on it's head, and give Jason Wilcox some advice…
Ole’s vision peaked one week in July 2026
Over the course of two dramatic World Cup games, three players Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to sign managed to step up on the biggest stage.
- Erling Haaland scored two goals to fire Norway past Brazil
- Jude Bellingham struck twice for England in a 3-2 win over Mexico
- Declan Rice played a key role in the midfield in England’s victory
The only consolation for Solskjaer was the fact his native Norway were able to celebrate a remarkable victory, setting up a quarter-final with England.
Who knows what this trio could have achieved together playing for Manchester United?
Solskjaer wanted all three players
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer worked with Erling Haaland at Molde and revealed in an interview in 2024 that he told Manchester United to sign the striker – twice.
“The summer before I got here [United]. I rang the club and said: ‘You’ve got to sign this boy. He will be top. Absolutely top class.’
“That was June, July 2018, and they said: ‘nah, we’ve got enough reports.’ Okay, no problem. Then I became the caretaker and they [Molde] sold him to Salzburg.
“I tell the club straight away. Buy him. Straight away.
“Because he didn’t play for him for three or four months, just sign him now because he’s got a release clause.
“We knew that and no one else then would have paid that money. 20 million euros.”
United made an attempt to sign Haaland later on, but missed out as the striker chose to sign with Borussia Dortmund instead.
Dortmund also beat United to the signing of Jude Bellingham, after the club failed to convince him with their sales pitch.
Solskjaer explained: “We sold it to him as well as we could but he knew what he wanted.
“X amount of minutes in the first team. That’s it. The most mature 17-year-old I’ve ever met in my life.”
He also expressed his regret at not signing Declan Rice: “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.
“Yeah [he was available]. Obviously, he would have cost some money but we could have and should have gone for him.”
Now all three are showcasing their top class ability on the world stage. Manchester United could be a very different team right now with just one of those players – let alone all three.
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The lesson for Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had the vision, but his ideas were not backed. Manchester United need to learn from this.
Michael Carrick is the current head coach, Solskjaer’s former assistant, and the club need to deliver on what he wants this summer.
But there also needs to be proper collaboration.
United have learned lessons since Solskjaer, with Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim’s spells in charge at the club.
Ten Hag’s stint in particular saw too much swing the other way. United backed his transfer targets at all costs, and we saw some ridiculous fees paid for players who were not up to the task.
United went ‘all in’ on the wrong manager.
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