Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appointed Harry Maguire as Manchester United captain during the Norwegian’s reign (Picture: Getty)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed his disappointment at the Manchester United stars who turned down the chance to captain the club during his reign.
The likes of David de Gea, Antonio Valencia, Harry Maguire and Ashley Young all wore the armband during various stages of the Norwegian’s ultimately doomed Old Trafford reign.
By the end of his tenure, several high-profile stars were said to have been openly questioning his decision to hand Maguire the captaincy on a permanent basis, particularly in the wake of the decision to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to the club.
Solskjaer, however, insists he had a solid relationship with the majority of the players in his first team squad, but admitted several egos in the dressing room had an inflated opinion of their worth.
He told The Athletic: ‘Some weren’t as good as their own perception of themselves. I won’t name names, but I was very disappointed when a couple turned down the chance to be captain.
The captaincy at Old Trafford attracts extra pressures (Picture: Getty)
‘I was also disappointed when others said they wouldn’t play or train because they wanted to force their way out.
‘There was stuff in the media after I left about how I treated some players, which were complete lies, but I had a solid, honest relationship with most of them.’
Solskjaer also confessed that the decision to re-sign Ronaldo ultimately backfired despite having felt there was no option but to press the button on bringing him back given he was on the brink of signing for Manchester City.
He added: ‘It was a decision that was very difficult to turn down and I felt we had to take it, but it turned out wrong.
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‘It felt so right when he signed and the fans felt that at that Newcastle game, when Old Trafford was rocking (after Ronaldo scored twice in a 4-1 win). He was still one of the best goalscorers in the world, he was looking strong.
‘When I looked at the fixtures it was going to be a deciding period: Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham, and Leicester away. Then Chelsea and Arsenal, plus Champions League games. Things went against us. It started with Aston Villa at home (a 1-0 defeat) and a late penalty miss.
‘When you have a group you need everyone to pull in the same direction. When things didn’t go right, you could see certain players and egos came out. We beat Tottenham convincingly 3-0 away, but then we lost two games…’
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