Solskjaer was manager when Ronaldo, now with Al Nassr, returned in 2021 from Juventus, before he was sacked midseason.
Speaking at the Oslo Business Forum, he said: “Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players in the world the last 15 years. I played with him. He played for Manchester United.
“He has history with the club and he's leaving Juventus but we can not give him to Manchester City because he will score more goals than Erling Haaland is doing at the moment probably.
“So I speak to Cristiano. We get him to Man United but I think maybe that affected the whole dressing room, the dynamic in the dressing room.
“Maybe other players felt less important because of course this is one of the world superstars that comes in. He did well. He was top scorer that year, scored 24 goals or something, but I was out of the job 10 weeks later!”