Manchester United’s former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a tumultuous stint at the club. During his tenure, the team had many poor results and he was often not backed by the owners. However, Ole did have a great addition in the summer of 2021, and that was the return of the club’s iconic legend Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo did impress under Ole, though the latter was be sacked mid-season. Nevertheless, the Norwegian himself believes that the transfer never should have happened and that he had wanted some other players during his time at Old Trafford.
Ex-Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says signing Cristiano Ronaldo was “wrong” decision
In a recent interview with the Athletic, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer talked about his managerial spell at United. Specifically, he talked about Cristiano Ronaldo, who he has admitted was a bad signing for the club.
“It was a decision that was very difficult to turn down and I felt we had to take it, but it turned out wrong.”
He did acknowledge Ronaldo for his ability at the time, which had convinced him to welcome Ronaldo back.
“It felt so right when he signed and the fans felt that at that Newcastle game, when Old Trafford was rocking (referencing to when Ronaldo scored twice in a 4-1 win). He was still one of the best goalscorers in the world, he was looking strong.”
Ronaldo did have a good first season for the Red Devils, scoring 24 times in 38 games. After one of their worst seasons ever, Ronaldo found himself on the bench under new manager Erik Ten Hag. He then subsequently left for Saudi club Al Nassr, where he has returned to his goal scoring ways.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals five superstars worth £484m that he encouraged the club to sign
In the same interview, Ole discussed about five players that he wanted the club to sign but they didn’t. The first one is well documented, with Ole wanting to sign his compatriot Erling Haaland, who now plays for rivals Manchester City and was signed for a very low fee of 51 million pounds. At the time, he was playing for Molde FK, which means he wouldn’t have cost much.
He also said that he had wanted two of the most expensive signings this summer, Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo. If United had gone for them in those days, they could have gotten them for a bargain. Instead, Rice went for a fee of 105 million pounds to Arsenal, and Caicedo for a fee of 115 million euros to Chelsea.
Solskjaer also said that the club was crazy for Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid this summer for a big fee of 88 million pounds. Similarly, he had wanted Harry Kane, who also moved to Bayern Munich for a similar fee of 86 million pounds to Bellingham.
All of these five players now cost a huge amount of roughly £484m, but if United had gone for them as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted, they could have landed them for a bargain. And maybe both he and Manchester United would have been in a better position.
What do you think about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his comments? Do you think the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo had been a mistake? Or whether United could have signed all those players? Let us know your invaluable opinions in the comments down below!
