Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer missed out on top transfer targets. The club’s current XI could look very different if he got them.
It is four years since Manchester United fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Norwegian’s time ran out as Red Devils boss, sacked after a 4-1 away loss to Watford.
United have learned a lot since, and one of the key drawbacks during Solskjaer’s spell was that Ed Woodward failed to deliver the manager’s dream targets.
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So how could United look now if they had been signed?
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Mike Phelan
Photo by ADAM DAVY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Solskjaer wanted three top signings
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is on record that he wanted to sign key players at striker and in midfield. It didn’t happen.
Solskjaer wanted Erling Haaland, and missed out on him twice.
Solskjaer on Haaland: “I tell the club straight away. Buy him. Straight away.”
He also tried to sign Jude Bellingham, who even visited Carrington. United did not get it done, with John Murtough said to have angered Sir Alex Ferguson for interrupting his meeting with the player.
Solskjaer on Bellingham: “Jude, he was in the building. You can’t ask a lot more for a midfielder… The most mature 17-year-old I’ve ever met in my life.”
In an interview with The Overlap, Solskjaer said that he had been interested in signing Declan Rice for his midfield, before he signed with Arsenal.
Solskjaer on Rice: “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.”
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Instead the only midfielder signed during his spell in charge was Donny van de Beek.
In the time period since Solskjaer was fired, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland have all played key roles for their respective clubs since.
⚽ Total Club Appearances (Nov 2021 – Nov 2025)
Player Club(s) During Period Total Club Appearances
Declan Rice West Ham United, Arsenal 168
Jude Bellingham Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid 166
Erling Haaland Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City 132
*Calculated by summing all official club matches (league, domestic cups, continental competition) played by each player between November 21, 2021, and November 18, 2025.
How trio would fit in under Ruben Amorim
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in 2021. It is highly likely that if Manchester United signed Erling Haaland, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, he would have extended his reign substantially.
But would he have lasted all the way to 2025? We doubt it.
So just as a theoretical ‘sliding doors’ look at how it could all have worked out, here is a look at how current head coach Ruben Amorim could have fitted the trio into his system.
United concept XI
Erling Haaland would be Manchester United’s undisputed first choice striker. He has scored 143 goals in 161 games for City.
How much better would it have been if all those goals came in red, not blue. And it would have been more goals too, with Solskjaer eyeing him even earlier.
Jude Bellingham would have been an ideal fit for Ruben Amorim’s attacking midfield role, with almost 70 club career goals to his name at the age of 22.
While in midfield, Declan Rice would have been the stable defensive midfielder Ruben Amorim desperately seeks to provide the balance for Bruno Fernandes’ attacking DNA.
We are pretty convinced that this would be a near-unstoppable title-challenging team.
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How United’s current options compare
Manchester United missed out on Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, and all three have gone on to become top stars in domestic leagues and the Champions League, and even international level.
Trying to find equivalents is not straightforward. Manchester United might actually have sold the closest player to the role Bellingham would have filled, with Scott McTominay’s sale in 2024.
With the move for Matheus Cunha this summer, United have to have found a very different type of player, but one who can be equally effective in the final third.
Cunha might even go on to become a better signing than Bellingham would have been. But this is the exception.
At the striker position, Erling Haaland is a generational talent that there is no equal for. United have tried to find a similar alternative, taking an unsuccessful punt on Rasmus Hojlund in 2023.
The latest signing is Benjamin Sesko, a top young forward, one with great potential, but one who did not get close to Haaland’s prolific numbers in the Bundesliga.
In United’s first summer after Solskjaer’s sacking, Erik ten Hag took a short-term approach to midfield, signing Casemiro from Real Madrid.
Casemiro had an immediate impact and is still a strong contributor now. However, in 2025/26 he is in the final year of his contract.
For a higher fee, United could have signed a longer term solution in Declan Rice.
In 2026, United will be back in the transfer market trying to find another expensive midfielder, or even two.