Summary
Managers at Manchester United have a periodic disagreement with the club administration regarding transfer decisions.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s wishlist included quality players such as Rice and Bellingham to strengthen the midfield.
United missed out on signing Haaland, who has since excelled and had a significant influence at Manchester City.
Hindsight is a strange and wonderful thing in sports, especially if you follow Manchester United. For the most part, looking back at Old Trafford evokes the fanbase’s desire to return to the golden days of Sir Alex Ferguson, when they won 13 Premier League crowns and two Champions League trophies. However, for managers who have attempted and ultimately failed to recapture those halcyon days, their list of transfer targets frequently becomes the stuff of “what ifs.”
Take former interim manager Ralf Rangnick, for example. The now-Austrian manager proposed nine players to the club and has subsequently proven correct on six main concerns plaguing the Red Devils. However, he was not alone in feeling neglected; other managers before and after him have expressed similar dissatisfaction, revealing a recurring divergence between the coaching staff and decision-makers at the Theatre of Dreams.
During his tough stint from 2018 to 2021, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer created his own transfer wishlist. While he rekindled the feel-good factor at the club he adores, bad recruitment eventually held him back before he was let go. So it begs the question of how United may have looked if they had kept Ole at the helm for a little longer and rewarded him for consecutive second and third-place finishes in the Premier League.
Goalkeeper & Defence
David de Gea; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Pau Torres, Harry Maguire, Nathan Ake
It’s a touch concerning that the Norwegian, who will forever be remembered for his goal-scoring exploits in the 1990s and early 2000s, apparently showed little interest in adding a goalkeeper or defense to his trade list. While Ole was a forward-thinking manager, he would have undoubtedly recognized the need for defensive reinforcements – perhaps this is where his 4-2-3-1 double-pivot midfield came into play (more on this later).
So it’s naturally tough to predict what a modern Ole back four would look like. It’s safe to assume he would have remained loyal to those he frequently selected in 2021, with David de Gea keeping his place in goal and Harry Maguire remaining the experienced central defender, having been named captain by his former manager, alongside Pau Torres, who was tipped to join the Red Devils by ESPN before eventually moving to Aston Villa, where he helped them qualify for the Europa League last season.
Assuming Luke Shaw would have struggled with fitness issues regardless of managerial changes, Nathan Ake, mentioned in the same report, could have been snatched from under their city rivals’ noses, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka, now regarded as one of the best right-backs in the Premier League during his time at West Ham, would have been given plenty of minutes. His unparalleled ability to defend one-on-one scenarios would have given Ole’s attacking additions the flexibility to play farther up the pitch, operating as a system player.
Midfield: Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Moises Caicedo.
Solskjaer’s preferred defensive system relied on a double pivot at the base of midfield, which is why his transfer list contained three world-class midfielders: England’s Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, as well as £115 million Chelsea signing Moises Caicedo. It now appears almost unbelievable for a team that finished 15th in the Premier League to have all three, but the 52-year-old believed he was ahead of the game four or five years ago.
In a 2023 interview with The Athletic, Solskjaer stated that he had coveted Rice before Arsenal spent a whopping £100 million for him, adding Rice “wouldn’t have cost what he eventually went for” if United had pursued him. Meanwhile, the United hierarchy passed up signing Caicedo because the Glazer family preferred an immediate impact player like Casemiro.
That choice backfired badly, as the Ecuadorian has become as one of the game’s top defensive midfielders in recent seasons. Caicedo’s future appears promising even at the age of 23. Meanwhile, the unlikely arrival of Bellingham would have cost a fortune these days, but Ole stated he wanted Bellingham before the youngster transferred to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, boasting about his talent-spotting abilities once more.
“We wanted Jude Bellingham badly; he’s a Manchester United player, but I respect his decision to join Dortmund. That was probably sensible. But this is why I admire Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Dan James, and Jadon [Sancho]. Young players prepared to join a squad that was not as strong as it was when I joined.”
Attack
Bruno Fernandes, Erling Haaland, and Marcus Rashford
Ole also claimed to have persuaded United to sign Erling Haaland, his compatriot, long before the striker made his RB Salzburg debut. The club’s failure to act continues to sting United fans. Haaland’s staggering 29 goals in 27 Austrian games, followed by 86 in 89 at Dortmund, won him a £50 million transfer to Manchester City in 2022. The rest, as they say, was history.
The towering forward has broken numerous records and matched Ronaldo’s milestone, becoming the fastest to 100 goals for a single club in just 105 games, while also contributing to City’s back-to-back Premier League titles and their first Champions League victory, which completed a historic treble in the 2022/23 season. See the complete lineup below:
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