Man United transfer for Arsenal player denied as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes admission

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed Manchester United chiefs rejected his pleas to sign Arsenal talisman Declan Rice. As each transfer window passed, rumours linking the former West Ham United talisman with a move away intensified.

Becoming an England regular meant leaving the London Stadium always seemed inevitable and, after helping the Hammers win their first major honour in 43 years, Rice did exactly that. Arsenal stumped up a British transfer record to sign the midfielder as Mikel Arteta aimed to build on a failed title challenge. I

t has not taken long for Rice to justify his hefty fee, with the breakthrough goal against Manchester United earlier this month giving Gunners fans a glimpse of more to come. But in a lengthy interview with The Athletic, former United boss Solskjaer has claimed Rice could have been wearing a different shade of red.

The 50-year-old, out of work since his Old Trafford sacking two years ago, urged the club to sign Rice at a fraction of the eventual £105million fee. “The expectations are very high but we can’t live in the same era as when I played,” Solskjaer said.

“We had Arsenal and Chelsea as rivals towards the end. Now, most teams have money or even if they don’t, they don’t need to sell. “Back then, Wayne (Rooney) and Cristiano (Ronaldo) were the best young players and we signed them. Now, United can’t just go and buy Evan Ferguson. We couldn’t buy the players I mentioned to the club.

“Erling Haaland, before he made his Salzburg debut (is one player I wanted to sign). 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