Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has opened up on how Manchester United missed out on signing Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice.
Solskjaer has discussed his time in charge of Manchester United during an interview with The Overlap and has opened up on the club’s failures in the transfer market.
The Norwegian spoke on how Bellingham was given a tour of the club’s training ground and introduced to legendary club figures, though the Red Devils were unable to persuade the then-Birmingham City teenager to sign.
Bellingham instead moved to Borussia Dortmund and has developed into one of the most exciting young talents in Europe, culminating in an £88m move to Real Madrid last summer.
“Jude [Bellingham], he was in the building. I was there, Sir Alex Ferguson was there, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona were all there that day when he came to the club. We all spoke to him and sold it as well as he could,” Solskjaer said.
“He knew what he wanted a certain amount of minutes in the first team. He was 17 at the time, and he was the most mature 17-year-old I’ve ever met – he had it all planned out.”
Solskjaer also revealed how he wanted to sign Declan Rice from West Ham. The England international is currently starring as part of Arsenal’s title challenge in the Premier League and Solskjaer said Manchester United ‘could’ve and should’ve’ signed the midfielder.
“I really like him as a player – we’ve discussed him a few times, and I think we would’ve done well with him in midfield. His legs, covering the pitch, and I think he improved a lot on his playmaking as well. Obviously, he would’ve cost some money, but we could’ve and should’ve gone for him.”
