Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United signings rated: How well should he be doing?

Michael Graham
6 October 2021

Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Donny van de Beek, and Harry Maguire

The key criticism thrown at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United is that he should be doing better given the players he has, so we rank the signings the club have made under his watch.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under growing pressure at Manchester United after their impressive start to the season entered an alarming decline.

Previously, it has been the executives at Man United who have taken the brunt of criticism for failures in the transfer market, but the consensus now seems to be that Solskjaer has all the players he needs to be doing considerably better than he is.

With that in mind, we take a look at the players who have arrived at Man United since Solskjaer took charge and rate them.

Cristiano Ronaldo

There is really only one place to start when it comes to recent Manchester United signings, and that is with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Yes, he might be 36 years old now but you wouldn't know it given the sheer physical specimen the Portuguese star is.

Ronaldo is one of the rare sure-thing signings in world soccer, both from a commercial point of view and a sporting one, so he's going to a 10-out-10 guy every time.

Rating: 10/10

Jadon Sancho

The youngster is yet to hit his stride in a Man Utd shirt but Jadon Sancho was signed to deliver for 10 years, not 10 minutes.

Sancho proved his quality at Borussia Dortmund and may actually ultimately benefit from being sheltered from expectation and the limelight while he settles into the Premier League.

That makes him quite hard to rate right now as a signing, but it's very much a case of watch this space.

Rating: 7/10

Harry Maguire

Harry Maguire looked very overpriced when Man United paid a world-record fee for a defender in 2019.

You'd have to say, though, that two years later he is firmly established for both club and country as an absolutely vital player.

Did Man United pay too much him? Probably. However, his performances have shown he was probably worth pushing the boat out a little for.

Rating: 9/10

Bruno Fernandes

We talk about Solskjaer being under pressure, but the likelihood is he would have been long gone by now had it not been for Bruno Fernandes.

Fernandes arrived at Man Utd when they were really struggling for form and he immediately provided the catalyst for a revival.

The Portuguese ace is a leader on and off the pitch, makes others around him better, and is a matchwinner in his own right, so he ticks just about every single box you could want.

Rating: 10/10

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Right-back had been a problem position for Man United for a while by the time they turned to Wan-Bissaka in 2019 and what a signing he has been too.

The former Crystal Palace man is defensively sound and is growing from an attacking point of view as well.

The fact he is yet to represent England at senior level is remarkable, although the Three Lions are quite ludicrously strong in his position.

Rating: 8/10

Edinson Cavani

No one will deny that Edinson Cavani is past the peak of his powers, but that hasn't stopped him from being a fine addition to the Man United squad.

His days of regularly leading the line for a top team are behind him, but he has come in and out of the side, often from the bench, and been a real ace in the pack for Solskjaer.

Considering he was a free transfer, you'd have to say Cavani has been a fine addition, even if his contributions have been relatively sporadic.

Rating: 7/10

Raphael Varane

It's very early days for Varane and Manchester United, but the general feeling was that he was an absolute steal at around £40million.

During his time at Real Madrid, he won three La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues, and even a World Cup too.

He is also right slap bang in his peak for a centre-back and seems ideally suited to the Premier League. It's too early to judge the signing definitively but, as with Sancho, all the signs are very good.

Rating: 7/10

Amad Diallo

Diallo, at this stage, is still pretty much an unknown quantity although the early signs are pretty positive.

His opportunities at first team level have been limited but he has a Europa League goal against Man United under his belt.

He arrived from Atlanta for a big fee so sooner or later he will be expected to deliver, but at 19 years old he has time on his side to prove his value.

Rating: 5/10

Daniel James

How do you assess James as a Man United signing? Coming from Swansea as a relative unknown, there was not much in the way of expectation or pressure for the Welshman to handle.

At times he really looked the part too with some flashes of real quality. That said, consistency was an issue for James, and it became increasingly hard to retain the trust of the manager at a club like United on that basis alone.

James has already moved on, with him joining Leeds in the summer for £25million. That means Man United made a profit on him, which is good, but he ultimately didn't make the grade, which isn't.

Rating: 6/10

Donny van de Beek

There is an argument to be made that Van de Beek has not had a fair chance at Man United, although it's surely more accurate to say he has not done enough to earn one.

The Dutchman arrived for £40million, so it's not like he was some cheap punt you could cross your fingers on and hope he comes good.

Van de Beek has not delivered, and what's more he's not looking likely to either right now.

Rating: 1/10

Alex Telles

There is unquestionably a player there somewhere, but Telles is yet to really show it on a consistent basis for United.

He probably hasn't been helped by Luke Shaw's brilliant form at left-back. Shaw has made that position his own and he would be keeping better players than Telles out of the side.

Fact is, though, that Telles hasn't delivered anything but rare glimpses of quality at United, and that's just not really good enough.

Rating: 2/10

Odion Ighalo

Hands up if you had forgotten that Ighalo had even played for Man United? It's okay if you did, it was only really memorable for how bizarre a signing it was.

Ighalo had a respectable record, but it's fair to say that Man United fans expect better and reasonably so. The Nigerian failed to score a Premier League goal for the Red Devils in a dozen matches, although he did bag six in cup competitions.

It's probably a saving grace that he was just a loan signing, but the whole thing was still just a little odd.

Rating: 2/10

Facundo Pellistri, Nathan Bishop, Tom Heaton are not included in our ratings as they are yet to play for the senior squad.