Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to sell one key first team player during his first summer in charge, club said no

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Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to sell one key player in his first summer at the club but the Glazers vetoed this.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was awarded the permanent job at Manchester United after impressing for three months on an interim basis at the club.

The Norwegian brought smiles back on players’ faces and this culminated in the stunning Champions League knockout stage victory over Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc Des Princes, despite being two goals down from the first leg.

However, after this, the season petered out with the club struggling to win any game with a 2-0 home defeat to the already relegated Cardiff City at Old Trafford a particular nadir.

Solskjaer wanted Pogba sale

One player who caused headaches in the Norwegian’s first summer in charge was £89 million midfielder Paul Pogba with the former Juventus star keen to leave the club.

United failed to qualify for the Champions League which probably forced Pogba to consider his future at the club, this came after the midfielder has his best goalscoring season yet for the Red Devils.

According to a damning report from ESPN about the Glazer family ownership of United, a former teammate of the Norwegian, who was not named in the piece, revealed that Solskjaer wanted to get rid of the Frenchman.

“Ole was ready to get rid of Paul Pogba in his first summer window,” one of Solskjaer’s former teammates said. “But he feared he wouldn’t be given the proceeds of any transfer fee to replace him. That’s how it worked.”

The report does go on to state that Solskjaer’s team failed to reply with this when presented with this but it does seem Ed Woodward and the Glazer family wanted Pogba to stay.

That summer there was speculation over Pogba’s future right up until he joined up with the club for pre-season tour, amid suggestions he might skip it.

Solskjaer’s worry

Despite the Norwegian wanting to sell the French midfielder, the former United manager was worried that had Pogba left the club, these funds would have not been reinvested into the first team.

Over the years, the Glazer family have struggled to make any sort of money from player sales with Dan James’ move to Leeds United netting the club £25 million, the only notable exception.

Selling Pogba for a decent fee may well have allowed Solskjaer and the club to improve with current Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice one of the Norwegian’s top targets, according to the report.

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