The incredible Man Utd XI if Solskjaer had signed the 5 players he wanted | OneFootball

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Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson left, it has felt as though Manchester United have been at a complete loss on and off the pitch. Four permanent managers (not including interim Ralf Rangnick) came and went before Erik ten Hag came in to call the shots at Old Trafford. But even his position looks increasingly more uncertain after a poor start to the season.

Perhaps the club would be in a better state if they were able to perform better in the transfer market, with a number of high-profile players struggling to impress after joining the Red Devils in recent years – such as Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaka, and more recently Jadon Sancho. It feels as though things haven't always been aligned behind the scenes in Manchester and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's recent interview with The Athletic suggests as much.

The former manager explained how he tried to sign five players who have since gone on to become big stars at different clubs, but the club couldn't help him get those deals across the line at the time. With that in mind, GIVEMESPORT has made an impressive XI of how the team could look right now had things played out differently.

During Solskjaer's time at Old Trafford, David de Gea was the undisputed number one so there wasn't any reason to chase a major replacement. He even won the club's Players' Player of the Year for his efforts in the season the Norweigan was sacked. However, the Spaniard has since been replaced.

Indeed, the game has quickly moved beyond the need for goalkeepers to just be good at shot-stopping, as they must also be excellent with their feet now. In Onana, Ten Hag has signed a player who seems far better suited to that side of things than De Gea ever was.

Defence - Luke Shaw

At left-back, Shaw has been a mainstay for some time now having first joined the club from Southampton back in 2014 (nearly a decade ago). There was, however, a spell under José Mourinho where it looked as though he could fall out of the team on a permanent basis.

Once Solskjaer arrived in Manchester, though, Shaw fought his way back into the team and has been one of the club's more consistent performers over the past few seasons. Even since the arrival of Tyrell Malacia, the Englishman has been the clear number one when fit.

Defence - Lisandro Martínez

"The Butcher" hasn't had a great start to the season and after he was embarrassed by Pascal Groß in the recent defeat against Brighton, he was one of a number of United players to clash with one another in the dressing room – reportedly having a heated exchange with Victor Lindelof in the aftermath of the loss.

But Martínez is still a highly-rated defender and did actually impress in his first season in England, after being signed by former Ajax boss Ten Hag, as the Red Devils won the Carabao Cup and finished in the top four. He'll hope to be back to his best before long.

Defence - Raphael Varane

Varane was one of Solskjaer's final transfers as United manager, and the 50-year-old was very excited with the deal at the time, saying: "I'm absolutely delighted that we have managed to secure one of the best defenders in the world over the last 10 years."

Unfortunately, though, since arriving in the Premier League, the Frenchman hasn't quite been able to replicate his Champions League-winning form at Real Madrid. Solskjaer was sacked in November, less than four months after Varane was signed.

There have been murmurs of a new right-back arriving at Old Trafford for some time now – with Jeremie Frimpong of Bayer Leverkusen constantly linked it seems – but Solskjaer didn't name-drop any specific targets he had in mind when speaking in this recent interview.

Perhaps this is because the Norweigan inherited Diogo Dalot and later signed Wan-Bissaka – opting to play the former Crystal Palace man with much more frequency than the Portuguese international. The English defender has an injury right now but is still probably just about the first-choice right-back.

Midfield - Moises Caicedo

At last, we have reached the first name in the team that Solskjaer touted to the club but didn't manage to sign. Costing Chelsea £115m in the summer, Caicedo certainly would have gone for a lot cheaper had United signed him before he arrived in England. However, it seems as though the Red Devils were hesitant to bring him in as he wasn't deemed ready enough to come in and make an immediate impact – as explained by the Norwegian below:

Midfield - Declan Rice

Next up, we have another played who joined a London club for £100m+ this summer in Rice. The Englishman joined Arsenal from West Ham but was wanted by Solskjaer although, of course, no deal with the Red Devils ever came to pass.

As he rose through the ranks with the Hammers, captaining them to Europa Conference League glory, the midfielder was wanted by nearly every big club in England, helping his final transfer fee to rise to such a high level (£105 including add-ons). However, Solskjaer has now insisted that back when he wanted Rice in a United shirt, the player "wouldn’t have cost what he did in the summer."

Midfield - Jude Bellingham

It seems as though the former Man United manager was perhaps not satisfied with his midfield at the time as he also had eyes on Bellingham as well as Caicedo and Rice during his tenure. The Englishman quickly rose to prominence as a teenager at Birmingham City and then truly became a superstar at Borussia Dortmund.

Before heading off to Germany though – and later sealing his £88.5m transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid – Solskjaer wanted to sign the midfield dynamo. Bellingham, however, had the wisdom to take his career in a different direction and it certainly paid off...

Midfield - Bruno Fernandes

Fernandes signed from Sporting CP in January 2020 and has since become a key figure within the team having scored 65 goals and claimed 55 assists in 190 outings. He was even handed the captain's armband this summer, showing just how important he is to the club.

With that in mind, even with all the exciting midfield arrivals that would have gone into this potential XI, the likes of Solskjaer and Ten Hag – or any other manager for that matter – wouldn't find it easy to drop the Portuguese international.

It's no secret that Kane was wanted by Man United over the years, with the player addressing those rumours just this week with Bayern Munich preparing to face the Red Devils in the Champions League. He said: "Manchester United are a great club, a really big club as well. I just decided to come here and am really happy I have."

It sounds as though the England record-goalscorer could have perhaps ended up at Old Trafford too, had it not been for non-footballing factors. Indeed, Solskjaer told The Athletic: "I would have signed Kane every day of the week and my understanding was that he wanted to come. But the club didn’t have the budget with the financial constraints from Covid-19, there was no bottomless pit."

Finally, in what could have been the most prolific goalscoring duo of all time, we have Haaland partnering Kane in Solskjaer's dream team of transfers that never were. With player and manager both coming from Norway, it's no surprise the 23-year-old popped up on United's radar early on in his career.

In fact, the 50-year-old coach wanted Haaland even "before he made his [Red Bull] Salzburg debut". No deal occurred though and with the striker netting 52 goals in all competitions as rivals Man City won the treble last term, it's safe to say a few at Old Trafford may harbour some regrets over how this one played out...

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