Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says a poorly ear was to blame for Jadon Sancho’s struggles under him at Manchester United but can’t put his finger on why Marcus Rashford “didn’t enjoy himself” at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer oversaw 149 games as United manager between March 2019 and November 2021 before being replaced by Erik ten Hag, and was pushing the club to sign Sancho for much of his time at the helm, eventually persuading them to sign the winger for ￡73m from Borussia Dortmund in the summer before the Norwegian was sacked.

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Sanchohas never caught fire at United and has since returned to Dortmund on loan, before temporary switches to Chelsea and now Aston Villa.

And Solskjaer, who is currently out of a job having been sacked by Besiktas after just 29 games, has claimed that Sancho being hospitalised with an ear infection just before arriving at United meant he was unable to get the best out of him.

Speaking to The Overlap, Solskjaer said: “We wanted to take the next step — not move away from what we had, but add something different in the final third.

“We wanted players who could break teams down, and Jadon, with his skill, link-up play, and little passes around the box, gave us that.

“He was unlucky, though. Before he joined, he went on holiday, as you do, and ended up getting an ear infection.

“He was in hospital and really struggled for his first 10 days or so before he could even start training with us.

“That hasn’t really come out before. So, yeah, I never really got to play with him properly, because by the time he was finding form again, I was already on my way out.”

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While Sancho struggles to make an impact at Aston Villa, Rashfordthrived under Unai Emery at Villa Park in the second half of last season and now he United loanee is pulling up trees in Barcelona, contributing six goals and nine assists in just 16 games for the Catalans, who are sure to take up the option to make his loan permanent for ￡30m at the end of the season.

And Solskjaer, while admitting that Rashford “didn’t enjoy himself” at United, can’t work out any one reason why.

“I’ve not spoken to Marcus since I’ve left, I text him a little bit but circumstances,” he said while appearing on Stick to Football.

“I don’t know what’s happened in his life but you can see he’s certainly enjoying it now in Barcelona.

“It looked like he didn’t enjoy himself here. I don’t think that’s just Man United [not enjoying it], it’s everywhere.

“All the pressures, every single one is different, we don’t know what’s happened to the players when they walk in in the morning grumpy, that’s the manager’s job: ‘What’s up? I can see something’s wrong’.

“We don’t know what’s happened, we just want him to do well. He’s an incredible player when he’s in in form and happy, he’s got that energy.

“I go back to Erling Haaland, just the energy that he shows all the time, when he’s on the pitch, he shows that enthusiasm and energy, that’s the least.

“But what is it? Life? Too many games? We don’t know but he’s found the right balance.”