Man Utd legend hints at £100m transfer mistake as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer advice ignored

Manchester United legend Bryan Robson is curious to see whether or not Michael Carrick’s men can handle a jam-packed season in England and the Champions League.

Carrick took over from Ruben Amorim at the start of this year and guided Man Utd to third place and back into Europe’s elite footballing competition. However, the former Middlesbrough boss did that without having to play European football or any domestic cup tournaments.

This season got off to the worst possible start after losing 2-0 to Premier League new boys Hull City on Saturday, heaping pressure on Carrick and his squad.

Now, Robson has given his take on whether or not the Red Devils players can handle playing three games a week for months on end.

The former England international hinted that Man Utd need a player like Arsenal’s Declan Rice, who has played more than 50 games for the Gunners in each of the past three seasons.

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He said on talkSPORT, “I think we’ll only see as the season goes on. Some players can handle it [playing three times a week]. I look at people like Rice down at Arsenal. He played in more or less every single game.

“They never seemed to rest him and that’s because he’s such a terrific player. For me, you’ve always got to look at who’s a terrific player and he’ll be in your side more or less every week. You’ve just got to keep watching them and seeing if they’re tiring a bit.

“There’s certain games where you’re confident that you can rest one of your better players and put somebody else in where they’ve got to prove themselves. I think it’ll be a little bit more difficult this season because of that because you’ve got the Champions League games. Hopefully, we do far better than what we did last season in the Carabao Cup.

“Because I think where United are now, if they don’t finish in the top four, that’ll be very disappointing. But because of the way the last few years have gone, I think we need to win a cup.”

Man Utd’s missed Declan Rice opportunity

Back in 2021, Man Utd were linked with a move for Rice when he was at West Ham United. According to ESPN, the Hammers valued the midfielder, then 22, at £80-90million – which put off the Premier League giants.

The following summer, reports surfaced that Man Utd had bid £100m for the England international, before signing Real Madrid’s Casemiro instead. The following March, Gary Neville sung the praises of Rice, but didn’t think he was worth that kind of money.

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He said, “I love Declan Rice. Obviously, Declan knows the position, but when I look at world-class holding midfielders, and players of that type, because he doesn’t score or assist enough goals, you’re putting him into that category of more of a destroyer.

“But for me, I wouldn’t be spending £110m or £120m on Rice if I was Manchester United this summer. I would spend £50m-£60m on Declan Rice, but I wouldn’t spend the figures being reported.”

It seems he and others have been proven wrong. This was before INEOS came on board, as the Glazers ran the show back then when it came to footballing operations.

Rice eventually joined Arsenal for around £105m in the summer of 2023 and few would argue he has not been a key purchase for Mikel Arteta’s side. And going by former Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, there was an opportunity to bring Rice to Old Trafford before he was sacked by the club in late 2021.

The Norwegian said in 2024, “Yeah, [there was interest] I really, really like him as a player. We discussed him a few times and I think we would have done well with him in midfield. I think his legs, covering the pitch.

“I think he improved a lot on his playmaking as well. Yeah [he was available]. Obviously, he would have cost some money but we could have and should have gone for him.”

Whether a current Man Utd player can play 50+ times this season and maintain a very high level remains to be seen.

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