Gary Neville has finally managed to get Ole Gunnar Solskjær on The Overlap and the Manchester United legend turned manager has finally shed some light on just how close he came to singing the likes of Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland and Declan Rice.
Appearing alongside Stick To Football regular and former teammate Roy Keane as well, Solskjær arguably one of the biggest looks behind the curtain since he was sacked from Man United back in 2021, detailing everything from the state of the dressing room to how he fit into the hierarchy around the club.
Perhaps most interestingly, the one-time ‘baby-faced assassin’ also spoke on his attempts to bring Premier League stars Haaland and Rice to Old Trafford, as well as another one of England and Europe’s most exciting talents: a then-teenaged Jude Bellingham, now shining at Real Madrid.
Explaining the player recruitment set-up in more detail than most Reds will have ever heard before, Ole insisted that while he was consulted and did get to say ‘yes or no’ from a list of players, he did bring all three of these names to the table but they didn’t work out for one reason or another.
🇳🇴 Stick to Football: Solskjaer 🇳🇴
🔴 Manchester United Exit 👀 Haaland, Bellingham, Rice ✍️ Signing Cristiano Ronaldo 🏆 Winning The Treble
The episode is available now on YouTube and all major podcast platforms!
Ole talks Rice, Bellingham, Haaland, the Ronaldo deal and more on Stick To Football.
Starting with Rice before he went to Arsenal, he said that although it “would’ve cost some money, we could and should’ve gone for him” at the time, as well as going on to reveal that they managed to get Bellingham in the building to meet legends like Sir Alex, Cantona and Bryan Robson.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, while he insisted that they tried to sell him the project as best they could, he said that even at his age “he knew what he wanted: x amount of minutes in the first team… he had it planned out”, adding that he was “the most mature 17-year-old I’ve ever met in my life”.
As for the matter of his fellow countryman Haaland, who he had already managed back home in Molde as a youngster, Solskjær said that after roughly two seasons of coaching him he “rang the club and said, ‘You’ve got to sign this boy’, he’ll be absolutely top class”.
ADVERTISEMENT
Unfortunately, United didn’t see fit to take a chance on his recommendation even after he became manager, passing up the opportunity of signing him for just a £20 million release clause and then again for £60m after he started scoring for Salzburg. As fellow ex-pro and panellist Jill Scott put it: “Bargain”.
🇳🇴🗣️ Ole Gunnar Solskjær: "I had Haaland in Molde, for two seasons. The summer before I got here (to Man United), I rang the club and said: you've got to sign this boy. He’ll be top class."
"That was June, July 2018, and they said no. They had enough reports on players. Then I… pic.twitter.com/QM6XVqE7Iy
Ole also went on to discuss the process of bringing Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford, which despite claiming was “the right decision at the time” he admits “didn’t work out” for either of them, citing complaints when he wasn’t played as the wider impact on their desired playing style overall.
Beyond that, the 51-year-old reflected on players passing up the captaincy for certain games during his tenure, taking time away from management after being at United, his own playing career and how Erik ten Hag is fairing at present and more in the lengthy chat.
ADVERTISEMENT
You can watch Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s episode of Stick To Football in full down below:
2024 Manchester Marathon raises £29 million for local economy and over £3.7m for charity
Danny Jones
Just under a fortnight on from the 2024 Manchester Marathon and the numbers are finally, with the annual race generating nearly £30 million for the local economy and raising over £3.7m for charity.
This year’s Adidas Manchester Marathon saw record numbers of runners and spectators as over 30,000 took part in the popular race, up by roughly 6,000 from 2023, and more than 125k turned up to line the streets of Greater Manchester.
As a result, these huge crowds spent upwards of £29.2 million at business around the city centre and around the 10 boroughs last weekend, serving as one of the most significant contributions to the local economy on the annual calendar.
Not only was this an approximately £8m increase on last year’s tally but, most importantly, a sizeable chunk of that went straight into both regional and national charities.
The 2024 adidas Manchester Marathon was a spectacular day for the city and its economy.
Beyond the boost to local vendors, the hospitality sector and retail businesses, over £3.7 million were allocated to charities such as Alzheimer’s Charity, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and The Christie.
Over £32,000 was also raised for the Trafford Active Fund, with £1 from every paid entry to the Adidas Manchester Marathon and Manchester Half donated directly to the initiative that benefits local sports clubs and organisations through Trafford Council.
Better still, with City of Trees selected as the chosen ‘Green Runner’ charity, the eco-friendly drive saw roughly 7% of participants opt out of receiving either a finisher t-shirt, medal or both.
The money saved in production goes towards maintaining woodlands and wildlife across Greater Manchester.
Together you have raised over £3.7 million for charitable causes, adding even more meaning to those 26.2 miles 💕 Well done and thank you to all those who fundraised and donated! 🌟Tag us in those charity top pictures from last weekend 😍😍#ManchesterMarathonpic.twitter.com/5gsi6NtFzB
This year’s Manchester Marathon also helped produce some of the highest number of passengers on public transport in the city’s history, with a over 175,000 journeys made on Metrolink alone – the highest number of journeys ever recorded on a single day.
This was a 20% increaseon 2023’s race day (145k), spotlighting how the event continues to be more environmentally conscious as years go by.
With the 2025 adidas Manchester Marathon confirmed to be taking place on Sunday, 27 April next year – and over 12,000 places already sold – the city can already look forward to reaping the economic and social benefits of hosting one of Europe’s largest, flattest, friendliest and most-loved marathons.
Featured Images — Adidas Manchester Marathon/The Manc Group
Sport
‘Enough is enough’: Marcus Rashford calls out fans for ‘months’ of abuse
Danny Jones
Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has put his foot down in a social media post, calling for an end to ‘months of abuse’ from both his own supporters and beyond.
It’s fair to say that the 26-year-old hasn’t been enjoying his best season in a United shirt and while he has had his moments this year – his goal against Arsenal and stunning opener in the Manchester derby, just to name a couple – he’s come under a lot of pressure from supporters.
Rashford previously came out to address the situation in a Players Tribune interview back in February, stating, “I can’t have people questioning my commitment to Man United”, but now the England international has reiterated the point after someone came to his defence on X.
Quoting a fan who wrote that “the way Marcus Rashford is being treated is absolutely disgusting”, calling the behaviour online and on matchdays in some cases as “cruel” and downright abuse”, he responded by declaring: “Enough is enough”.
I appreciate your support! It is abuse and has been for months. Enough is enough https://t.co/MUfiU0JwEb
The Wythenshawe winger has already labelled doubts over his effort levels, love and loyalty to the club “ridiculous”, reiterating time and time again that he’s a boyhood Red, but that hasn’t stopped people continuing to criticise him online.
Sadly, while he’s also insisted that he “can take criticism” and headlines when his performances aren’t quite up to scratch, the negativity hasn’t just been limited to social media and has been spilling out into the matchday stands.
Reports of Rashford being booed off the pitch by his own supporters at Wembley during United’s admittedly chaotic performance against Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-final were confirmed by multiple sources at the time.
Although he didn’t comment on the response from the travelling Reds at the time, it’s now clear he was abundantly aware of the frosty reception as he was substituted, with many within the fan base and beyond calling the decision to boo your own players “classless” and “shameful”.
We were in the west press box (among Coventry fans) so amid the din after the equaliser and anticipation of ET, the booing of Rashford wasn't as audible as on TV. Relationship between player and matchgoers is broken. In the interests of all parties he goes in the summer. #mufc
Fans play a part in performances! Especially with social media, you can say players shouldn’t be on twitter or whatever but that’s not the point. How could rashford possibly perform when half the fanbase is calling him THE problem???
With seven goals and five assists to his name across all competitions this season, it’s fair to say Marcus Rashford has been a far cry away from the heights he has managed to hit in recent years.
It was only last season that he hit a career-high record of 40 goal contributions, sitting as one of the most prolific players in all of Europe during another difficult season for the club, even managing to surpass club legend Andy Cole’s record.
Just goes to show how short people’s memories can really be – especially when it comes to football – and Erik ten Hag has already urged patience from his fans when it comes to his players, and not just his number ten.
‘The Beautiful Game’ is and always will be a fickle sport but it’s worth reminding of just how much the academy product has already delivered during his time at Man United. Anyone can have a tough season.
Danny Jones -
6th March 2024 
