The 14 players Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought in during his time as Manchester United manager were a bit of a mixed bag. Solskjaer was in charge of 168 games during his time at the club.
He led the Red Devils to a second-place finish in the Premier League in 2020–21, which was his best season with the team. Solskjaer had some great moments as United’s manager, but it became clear over time that he wasn’t the right person to lead the team forward.
We looked at when the Norwegian boss was in charge of the team and where the 14 players he brought in are now.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
When he joined United in 2019, the former Crystal Palace back was Solskjaer’s first signing as manager. Wan-Bissaka has been a pretty reliable player over the years, though he may not have reached the heights that were first hoped for.
Daniel James
In 2019, there was a lot of buzz about the young Welsh winger after an impressive season with Swansea. That’s why United spent £15 million on him and signed him to a five-year deal.
Even though James was very fast and had a good start at Old Trafford, he never quite made it at the top level and was quickly sold to Leeds United for a profit in 2021.
Today, the 26-year-old is back in the Championship with Leeds. He has been a key part of Daniel Farke’s team’s push for promotion so far. It wouldn’t surprise us if he played in the Premier League again next year.
Harry Maguire
United paid £80 million to get Maguire from Leicester, which made him the most expensive defender in the history of the Premier League. Maguire has spent the last five years of his career at Old Trafford and is almost at 200 games for United.
In that time, Maguire’s style has changed a lot. At times, the England international has been a joke, and at other times, they have been a huge defensive team.
Even though Maguire spent most of last season on the bench, he has recently earned a spot in Erik ten Hag’s starting lineup, and his great play in November earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award.
Bruno Fernandes
Bruno Fernandes was without a question the best player Solskjaer bought for United. During his first 18 months as a United player, Fernandes could not be stopped at all.
In his more than 200 games for Manchester United, the 29-year-old has set up 128 goals, which is quite an impressive number.
Odion Ighalo
A last-minute signing who didn’t do much at Old Trafford, but it’s likely that no one expected him to. The Nigerian forward came to United on loan in 2020 to help them out because they were short-handed at striker. He played 23 times and scored five goals.
When I left Old Trafford, I was proud and kept my head up because that team was my dream team. Not everyone’s dreams come true. “Every day of my life, I’m thankful because mine came true,” Ighalo told ESPN.
Ighalo went to Saudi Arabia after leaving United and has been playing in the Saudi Pro League ever since. He now plays for Al Wehda and will probably make a good amount of money every week.
Donny van de Beek
Before he joined United, the Dutch playmaker was in the running for the 2019 Ballon d’Or. At the time, it looked like Van de Beek had the whole world at his feet, and his big move to Old Trafford would only make him more famous.
Of course, that’s not how things turned out in real life. Instead, the player who used to play for Ajax had a hard time making an impact in the Premier League, and he has continued to blend into the background while at United.
He has a contract that ends in 2025, so it’s possible that the midfielder will look for a new job in the coming year. It’s too bad that this move didn’t work out.
Edinson Cavani
The Uruguayan forward scored 17 goals in all competitions in his first season with the club, making him a useful player. But Cavani was only going to be a short-term fix, and he already had his eye on the door when his second season was over.
Cavani went back to South America in the summer and signed a deal with Boca Juniors that will keep him there until the end of 2024.
Alex Telles
The Brazilian full-back was bought by United for a reported £15.4 million in October 2020. He had some great games for the team, but in the end, it was hard for him to beat Luke Shaw for the starting lineup.
Telles played his last season at United on loan before making the move to Al Nassr official in the summer. Some of the players he plays with now are Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, and Aymeric Laporte.
Facundo Pellistri
Solskjaer paid £9 million for Pellistri in 2020, but the young player never played for the first team under the Norwegian manager. He instead played for Alaves on loan for his first two years with United.
Ten Hag has given him more chances since then, but the 21-year-old still has a long way to go before he is a regular player at Old Trafford.
Amad Diallo
A young player who was signed by Solskjaer to play in the future. The winger from the Ivory Coast had some of his best games last year while on loan at Sunderland in the Championship.
Ten Hag liked him so much that he wanted to keep him on the first team for the 2023–24 season, even though he has been hurt all season and can’t play yet. Watch this space, because Diallo has more to offer in a United shirt.
Tom Heaton
Eleven years after leaving United as a young player on the rise, Heaton went back to Old Trafford in 2021. The shot stopper has played as a third choice a lot of the time for Burnley and Aston Villa, and he is still on United’s books.
Jadon Sancho
There was a lot of excitement when United finally signed Sancho in 2021. They had been after him for a long time. Sancho was one of the most exciting wingers in Europe when he played for Borussia Dortmund. It’s a shame that things have gone so badly for him since he left Germany.
He had a hard time showing the same level of skill that he did in the Bundesliga in his first couple of seasons. After that, things got worse when he got into a public fight with Ten Hag. He is now very likely to leave in January. It’s too bad that this move didn’t work out.
Raphaël Varane
The experienced French back did a good job in his first couple of seasons with the club, but injuries slowed him down overall.
In 2023–24, Ten Hag is said to be ready to get rid of Varane next year, along with players like Casemiro and Sancho.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The last player Solskjaer signed as United manager was Cristiano Ronaldo. When Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford, things got off to a great start. He scored two goals against Newcastle that will go down in history, and he had a number of impressive moments in the Champions League.
Many experts wondered if United would be better off without the famous Portuguese forward on the team, even though he scored 24 goals in his first season back in 2021–22. Things quickly came to a head in 2022.
Ten Hag and Ronaldo didn’t get along from the start, and his departure from the club was nothing short of explosive. After leaving United, CR7 gave up on his career in Europe. He is now getting goals for fun and making a king’s ransom in Saudi Arabia.
