Ole Gunnar Solskjaer warning highlights Rasmus Hojlund's Manchester United challenge

It's easy to look back at fork-in-the-road moments and lament. Had things gone another way everything would be much better now. But it's never as easy as that.

You see it in football all the time. "That player should already be on a booking so this yellow should actually be his second and a red!" But the player may never have made that challenge or even been in the position to make it had he already been cautioned. Likewise, Jude Bellingham might not be on the verge of becoming one of the world's very best players had he joined Manchester United in 2020.

Whether they be for legitimate reasons or poor recruitment, United have missed out on a litany of players in recent years, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has outlined in his first interview since he was relieved of his managerial duties in the Athletic. But even if United had signed them all, there is no guarantee they would have reached the levels they are now at.

Would Declan Rice be the leader capable of taking games by the scruff if he wasn't far and away the best player in a team that he captained to European glory? Would Moises Caicedo have developed into a £100m player without the patient, low-pressure, exciting environment of Brighton? Would Erling Haaland have become the best striker in the world if he was immediately thrust into the Premier League at a young age rather than joining the development paradise of Borussia Dortmund? Would Bellingham have been able to realise his immense potential if he didn't play every week at an elite level as a teenager?

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Maybe yes, maybe no. We will never know. But the fact United missed out on them does not mean they have