Former Premier League manager admits he made a mistake selling £25m man to Leeds United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits Manchester United may have made a mistake selling Dan James to Leeds United when they did. James spent two seasons as a player at Old Trafford, joining the club from Swansea City in 2019 and making 74 appearances, including 50 in the Premier League.

However, Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Manchester in 2021 spelt the end of his career with the Red Devils. The Yorkshire-born Wales international found himself down the pecking order under Solskjaer and he was subsequently allowed to leave the club as he joined Leeds, two and a half years after he saw a deal to link up with Marcelo Bielsa's side fall through.

The Whites parted with around £25m to bag James, who this season has showcased consistent form over a prolonged period for the first real time at Elland Road, in a deal that seemed to make sense for both parties at the time. However, Ronaldo struggled to make a lasting positive impact at Man United after returning to the club.

He bagged 18 Premier League goals in his first season back at Old Trafford, but his presence was widely thought to be one of the reasons why the club struggled to find consistency before their sixth place finish in the 2021-22 season. Of course, the Portugal international was released as his Old Trafford deal was terminated in November 2022, just over a year after Solskjaer was sacked by the club due to poor form.

Reflecting on that decision while speaking on the latest episode of Stick to Football, Solskjaer admits a mistake was made.

"We let Dan James go when Cristiano came in, and they’re two different types of players," he said. "It was the right decision to make for me – it didn’t turn out to be the right one."

As mentioned above, James has been in impressive form this season for Leeds with his winner against Stoke City on Tuesday night being his 11th league goal of the campaign under Daniel Farke.