Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits Man Utd made mistake with Cristiano Ronaldo return

Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confessed the club made a mistake by re-signing Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021.

United jumped at the chance to reunite with the multi-time Ballon d'Or winner when it appeared as though he would be leaving Juventus for Manchester City, and Ronaldo enjoyed plenty of early success under Solskjaer and interim boss Ralf Rangnick.

Ronaldo netted 24 goals in 38 games across all competitions in his first season back, but quickly lost his place following the arrival of new manager Erik ten Hag. The pair ultimately had a well-publicised clash which led to Ronaldo's departure to Al Nassr in January 2023.

Quizzed on whether he had any regrets about re-signing Ronaldo, Solskjaer told the Oslo Business Forum: "To answer that, a little context is needed. Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players in the world the last 15 years. I played with him. He played for Manchester United. He has history with the club and he's leaving Juventus but we can not give him to Manchester City because he will score more goals than Erling Haaland is doing at the moment probably.

"So I speak to Cristiano. We get him to Man Utd but I think maybe that affected the whole dressing room, the dynamic in the dressing room. Maybe other players felt less important because of course this is one of the world superstars that comes in.

"He did well. He was top scorer that year, scored 24 goals or something, but I was out of the job ten weeks later!

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and in the name of hindsight, it went wrong."

Solskjaer has not worked as a manager since his departure from United in November 2021 but admitted he would be keen on becoming the Norway national team boss, while he even confessed he would jump at the chance to return to United.

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