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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jake Polden

What happened to the four Man Utd stars who admitted they had a problem with club

Manchester United went through something of a transition under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with the former Red Devils boss first looking to bring in young, hungry players and later opting to sign ready-made superstars.

Back in 2021, not long before Solskjaer was sacked by United, four Red Devils players made it clear they had a problem at Old Trafford, which the Norwegian needed the solve.

The four individuals - three of whom spoke out in the press - were Eric Bailly, Jesse Lingard, Andreas Pereira and Diogo Dalot. And all of their problems stemmed from the same place; a lack of game time at Man United.

Bailly told The Times in 2021: "Competition is always good to improve. I just say that I want to stay in case I get the chance to play. I don't want to be a starter in one game and a substitute for another five. If that happens I will have to look for another solution.

"The new contract is fine but if I don't play I will be open to listening to other proposals."

Meanwhile, Pereira told TNT Sports: "I'm ready to play, I'm not a boy anymore. I'm a man ready to take responsibility.

"I'm sure that with playing time and continuity as a starter in my position, I can show what I've done on base, I can score more goals and make assists.

"In Manchester or elsewhere, the time has come to play, to have at least an hour per game on the field, to have the confidence to play. I want to be happy, to feel important."

Erik ten Hag has retained the services of Diogo Dalot (Getty)

Dalot, who Jose Mourinho signed as one for the future back in 2018, was also finding first-team football difficult to come by with Solskjaer favouring his £50million acquisition Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

After a loan move to AC Milan, he said: "When I had a season like last season obviously things start to get more demanding as well. I want to keep playing, I want to keep giving everything I have and improve. I know last season was fantastic but I can do even more."

Lingard was the only one of the four who didn't speak directly to the press but made it clear he wanted first-team football by leaving United on loan to join West Ham for the season, where he impressed.

Two years on and a lot has changed at United.

Solskjaer was replaced by Rangnick, who was supposed to manage the team on an interim basis before moving upstairs to work a two-year consultancy role.

But Erik ten Hag saw no need for the Austrian upon taking his job and Rangnick was swiftly moved on.

Ten Hag has now started to turn things around at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils fourth in the Premier League and very much back in contention to qualify for the Champions League.

And it's interesting to note that three of the four players who came to Solskjaer with a problem over their lack of game time are no longer at the club this season - at least not in person.

Jesse Lingard signed for Nottingham Forest (Jon Super/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

Bailly is currently on loan at Marseille after being deemed surplus to requirements at United. He is set to return in the summer but will likely look for a permanent move away given Ten Hag's preferred pairing of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez.

Pereira, meanwhile, completed a permanent move to Fulham in the summer while Lingard snubbed the chance to return to West Ham for newly-promoted Nottingham Forest.

Dalot is the only one of the four that Ten Hag decided deserved an opportunity to showcase what he can do, with the Portugal international now the Dutchman's preferred right-back ahead of Wan-Bissaka.

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