Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has now revealed that he previously wanted to sign Arsenal’s Declan Rice.
Speaking in a lengthy interview with The Athletic, Solskjaer named Rice along with Erling Haaland and Moises Caicedo as players he suggested.
Solskjaer pointed out that all of these players were available at the time, including Rice who he thought to be much cheaper then.
He said: “Erling Haaland, before he made his Salzburg debut. Declan Rice, who wouldn’t have cost what he did in the summer.
“We discussed Moises Caicedo, but we felt we needed players ready for there and then.
“Brighton are very good at letting players come from abroad and find their feet for a year and a half.
“At United, you don’t have that luxury and that has cost the club loads of players.”
Of course Solskjaer wasn’t the first or the last manager that wanted to sign Declan Rice, but his comments are interesting.
Solskjaer wanted to sign Rice way before he joined Arsenal
Rice has been an immediate success at Arsenal, and could have really helped Solskjaer during his time at United.
Frank Lampard has also now claimed that he wanted to sign Rice at Chelsea, another example of a key missed opportunity.
However, it was ultimately Mikel Arteta that was the one to convince Rice to finally leave his home in East London.
And ahead of their Champions League return tonight, the England international will of course be crucial to their chances.
Despite only being a few months into the season it already feels difficult to remember this Arsenal side without Rice’s presence.
And this is likely the exact effect that Solskjaer envisioned Arsenal’s ‘world-class‘ Rice having at Manchester United.
Arsene Wenger was famed for the players he could have signed in the past, but Arsenal fans will be relieved that it’s no longer them missing out.
The post ‘Cost the club’: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he wanted to sign ‘world-class’ player before he joined Arsenal appeared first on The Boot Room.
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