Manchester United - Fans Corner

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Man United missed all of Solskjaer's targets including Sancho, Grealish - sources

Manchester United failed to sign any of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's priority targets during the summer transfer window, sources have told ESPN.

United completed their transfer business on deadline day on Monday by sealing deals for Edinson Cavani, Alex Telles, Amad Traore and Facundo Pellistri, having secured the £40 million signing of Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek at the beginning of September.

But sources have told ESPN that Solskjaer went into the transfer window having drawn up a shortlist of targets including Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho, Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish and a commanding centre-half, with RB Leipzig's Dayot Upamecano and Bournemouth's Nathan Ake his preferred options to partner captain Harry Maguire at the heart of United's defence.

None of the subsequent summer signings were players identified by Solskjaer and his coaching staff as key targets, although sources have told ESPN that the manager was consulted on every new arrival and that he sanctioned each deal before being completed, including that of Van de Beek, who has yet to start a Premier League game for United.

Solskjaer also missed out on top target Erling Haaland during the January transfer window, with the forward instead moving to Dortmund from FC Salzburg after lengthy attempts by United to sign the player.

Having failed to sign Haaland as the solution to Solskjaer's search for a centre-forward in January, United ultimately signed Odion Ighalo on a short-term loan from Shanghai Shenhua on Jan 31.

Despite being the focus of United's summer transfer plans, a move for Sancho failed to materialise due to a refusal to meet Dortmund's £108m asking price, as well as high demands from the player's representatives.

Villa's £80m valuation of Grealish, who ultimately signed a new contract at Villa Park, scuppered prospects of a deal for the England midfielder, while Leipzig also tied Upamecano to a new contract.

And any potential move for Ake was ruled out when Manchester City moved swiftly to complete a £41m deal for the Netherlands international in early August.

United also explored the possibility of signing Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich before the former Barcelona midfielder completed a £20m move to Liverpool last month.

[sirius]

Man United missed all of Solskjaer's targets including Sancho, Grealish - sources

Manchester United failed to sign any of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's priority targets during the summer transfer window, sources have told ESPN.

United completed their transfer business on deadline day on Monday by sealing deals for Edinson Cavani, Alex Telles, Amad Traore and Facundo Pellistri, having secured the £40 million signing of Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek at the beginning of September.

But sources have told ESPN that Solskjaer went into the transfer window having drawn up a shortlist of targets including Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho, Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish and a commanding centre-half, with RB Leipzig's Dayot Upamecano and Bournemouth's Nathan Ake his preferred options to partner captain Harry Maguire at the heart of United's defence.

None of the subsequent summer signings were players identified by Solskjaer and his coaching staff as key targets, although sources have told ESPN that the manager was consulted on every new arrival and that he sanctioned each deal before being completed, including that of Van de Beek, who has yet to start a Premier League game for United.

Solskjaer also missed out on top target Erling Haaland during the January transfer window, with the forward instead moving to Dortmund from FC Salzburg after lengthy attempts by United to sign the player.

Having failed to sign Haaland as the solution to Solskjaer's search for a centre-forward in January, United ultimately signed Odion Ighalo on a short-term loan from Shanghai Shenhua on Jan 31.

Despite being the focus of United's summer transfer plans, a move for Sancho failed to materialise due to a refusal to meet Dortmund's £108m asking price, as well as high demands from the player's representatives.

Villa's £80m valuation of Grealish, who ultimately signed a new contract at Villa Park, scuppered prospects of a deal for the England midfielder, while Leipzig also tied Upamecano to a new contract.

And any potential move for Ake was ruled out when Manchester City moved swiftly to complete a £41m deal for the Netherlands international in early August.

United also explored the possibility of signing Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich before the former Barcelona midfielder completed a £20m move to Liverpool last month.

Your thoughts on new signings

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Your thoughts on new signings

First of all , I think the current set of players are not that bad and more than enough to fight for a Top 3 or 4 .....not Top 2 ( Liverpool & City ) , that's a big gap to fill
Since Chelsea , Arsenal and Spurs are strengthened the fight for 3 and 4 even strengthened and moreover the likes of Everton , Leicester and Leeds are giving a very good fight.

Regarding new arrivals ,
Van de Beek is a bagain buy and will thrive
Cavani ..already 33...a short term fix ....don't think he will be a success like Ibra...but his experience can help
Don't know more about the other two , but have the potential

The actual problem is the mood at the club is not good , everybody at the club ( except Glazers & Woodward ) expected one or two high profile arrivals ...that didn't happen and the negativity started again ...I don't think just Jadon Sancho's arrival can improve the performance ....all the current CB's are just average

Next PL match is Newcastle away and then Chelsea & Arsenal ...in between there is PSG away and RB Leipzig home in CL...so after this 5 matches it's hard to say whether Ole will still be there or not

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Ed Woodward prepared to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer if Man Utd's season continues to stall

EXCLUSIVE: The United supremo is aware that there would be plenty of emotion around a decision to dismiss the club legend, but he is determined to act rationally if he needs to
Ed Woodward will have no hesitation firing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer if Manchester United's season continues to implode.
The United supremo knows it would be like shooting Bambi after Solskjaer's 1999 Treble heroics when the former striker scored the last-gasp goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final.
But Woodward has privately insisted he would put sentiment aside for the future of the club.
The Old Trafford supremo has come under fire for failing to deliver the priority targets Solskjaer wanted in the transfer window that closed last week.
But it's Solskjaer himself who could be facing fiercer heat in the coming weeks – with former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino still a wanted man at Old Trafford.
Senior club officials are more than aware that Pochettino has still not taken a job and he'd be ready and willing to parachute in to Manchester if United's poor start to the season isn't arrested.
The Argentinian coach, sacked by Spurs almost eleven months ago and replaced by former United boss Jose Mourinho, has taken time off to recharge his batteries.
Sources close to the South American revealed this week the 48-yar-old has refused several job offers and is waiting for the “right project that will allow him to fully utilise his experience and abilities on the big stage”.
That's clearly code for the Premier League – and many believe Manchester United would offer Pochettino the perfect platform to re-boot his career.
Solskjaer was a surprise appointment last year and seen as the ideal man to give United the cultural reset they needed when Woodward announced him as the club's successor to Mourinho in March last year.
And there's no denying Solskjaer delivered last season reaching three Cup semi finals at home and abroad as well as coming from behind to clinch a Champions League place on the last day of the season.
But those who believe Woodward wouldn't axe Solskjaer should think again.
Despite hiring him in March last year on a three year contract that ends in 2022, Woodward insists the United fan favourite hasn't got a free ride.
And despite backing the Norwegian in previous transfer windows, notably with the capture of England defender Harry Maguire from Leicester in an £85 million deal last year which made him the world's most expensive defender, Woodward will act if United's early season slump continues.
Sceptics believe because Woodward would find it too tough to sack Solskjaer he's prepared to give him the time to make United genuine title challengers again - even with the prospect of another struggle unfolding this season .
But Woodward points to Liverpool firing club legend Kenny Dalglish in 2012 after they finished eighth in the Premier League as evidence he'd be prepared to do the same.
Solskjaer admits United are facing a make-or-break month with League games against Newcastle, Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton as well as Champions League group games at Paris St Germain and home to crack German side RB Leipzig.
After being hammered 6-1 by Tottenham at Old Trafford before the international break the pressure is mounting on Solskjaer who saw his side beaten 3-1 at home by Crystal Palace on the opening day of the new campaign.
In between was an unconvincing 3-2 win at Brighton thanks to a penalty awarded by VAR after the final whistle had gone at the Amex Stadium.
A summer transfer window in which he didn't get any of his main targets and a dodgy start has put Solskjaer under the microscope – with Pochettino lurking ominously in the background.

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First of all , I think the current set of players are not that bad and more than enough to fight for a Top 3 or 4 .....not Top 2 ( Liverpool & City ) , that's a big gap to fill
Since Chelsea , Arsenal and Spurs are strengthened the fight for 3 and 4 even strengthened and moreover the likes of Everton , Leicester and Leeds are giving a very good fight.

Regarding new arrivals ,
Van de Beek is a bagain buy and will thrive
Cavani ..already 33...a short term fix ....don't think he will be a success like Ibra...but his experience can help
Don't know more about the other two , but have the potential

The actual problem is the mood at the club is not good , everybody at the club ( except Glazers & Woodward ) expected one or two high profile arrivals ...that didn't happen and the negativity started again ...I don't think just Jadon Sancho's arrival can improve the performance ....all the current CB's are just average

Next PL match is Newcastle away and then Chelsea & Arsenal ...in between there is PSG away and RB Leipzig home in CL...so after this 5 matches it's hard to say whether Ole will still be there or not

I was expecting good signings in defense. Not interested in Sancho.

But it is now interesting when martial is going for 3 match ban, who will play his position if Cavani was not signed

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Juan Mata helps ease pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Manchester United blow Newcastle away
Manchester United beat Newcastle 4-1 thanks to goals from Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Marcus Rashford on Saturday, but it was Juan Mata who made the difference for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side
https://www.skysports.com/football/n...newcastle-away

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Doesn't look like a team who can score when box is crowded. Couple of passes and loose the possession.

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Graeme Souness: Manchester United players are to blame for poor situation, not Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

"That's why I stopped being a manager a long time ago, you can't demand it from them anymore. Instead, you're asking them. I think at the end of every sentence you end up having to say please"; Man Utd sit 15th in the Premier League with seven points from six games

Graeme Souness insists Manchester United's players are to blame for their current predicament, not manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Manchester United go to Everton on Saturday sitting 15th in the Premier League having registered just seven points from six games, and fresh from a disappointing 2-1 defeat by Istanbul Basaksehir in midweek in the Champions League

Souness insists United's players have got the club into this situation, and questioned whether Solskjaer's players are looking in the mirror.
"I have been a manager, I've been sacked, I've been a manager under pressure, and it's not an easy time for Ole. He's only ever been one game away from everything being wrong at the football club, and that's the price on the ticket when you're at Manchester United.

"I read in a newspaper that the players wouldn't be against a change: the players have got Manchester United into this situation, not Ole! The players have underperformed. But the way football is these days, all the focus is on changing the manager.


"You ask your players to constantly look in the mirror and ask: can I do more? I wonder if any Manchester United players are doing that right now. Or is it the easy route, the exit hatch: 'Get rid of the manager and everything will be fine'.

"Sometimes these players have to stand up and be counted, and there's less and less of that in the Premier League now than there has ever been. If I was a Manchester United supporter I'd be unhappy reading that the players wouldn't be against a change."

Souness, a manager himself at eight different clubs in the 1980s, 90s and 00s, insists the modern-day player now needs to be asked to give the effort that would have been a given during his time in the game.

"Don't talk to me about the modern player, their attitude and responsibilities they seem to shy away from today. That dressing room needs to have a close look at itself, collectively and individually, as to why they're in this situation.

"There are some very good players in that dressing room: stand up and be counted now. For yourself first and foremost, then your families, then for your manager and football clubs.

"That's why I stopped being a manager a long time ago, you can't demand it from them anymore. Instead, you're asking them. I think at the end of every sentence you end up having to say 'Please' today. 'Please can you run a bit harder… please can you be more aggressive… please can you give everything'.

"They were givens, and that should be a given! You're at a big football club at United, you never play easy games, every game you play is a cup final for the opposition. From the outside looking in, a lot of them are in their armchairs, looking to blame other people."

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Doesn't look like a team who can score when box is crowded. Couple of passes and loose the possession.

Opposite team very well know how to play against Man Utd , just cut-off one or two channels ...job done
Our wing backs are not that good enough in going forward

Paul Pogba best suited for Italian or Spanish League , not for Premier League
Since the CL played is at a different tempo than the Premier League he is performing better , more or less the same case with French National Team

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Man United cool on Haaland after Raiola's road show; Man City's record wage bill would skyrocket with move

Agent Mino Raiola's attempt to create a buzz around Erling Haaland is no surprise to Manchester United. ESPN's Insider Notebook has the latest.

Agent Mino Raiola's Erling Haaland road show (a move that looks like a precursor to a summer exit, says ESPN's Gab Marcotti) has led some Manchester United insiders to feel they were right to cool their interest in the striker before he signed for Borussia Dortmund. Sources told ESPN it came as no surprise to see Raiola and Haaland's father Alf-Inge visit Barcelona and Real Madrid in the leadup to Dortmund's 2-1 Champions League quarterfinal first-leg defeat at Manchester City on Tuesday.

United are among a host of elite clubs who remain interested in Haaland, either this summer or in 2022 when his release clause at Dortmund becomes active, and sources told ESPN Dortmund value Haaland at €180 million.

Privately, United and Manchester City have distanced themselves from agreeing to a fee that high amid the coronavirus pandemic, with club finances across the world suffering a significant hit. City revealed the full impact of COVID-19 on the club by reporting a net loss of £126m for the 2019-20 season, a year after reporting a profit of £10.1m.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer visited Haaland in the run-up to his departure from Salzburg in 2020, but club bosses, including executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, were never comfortable with the terms put forward by agent Raiola and Haaland's father. Talks with Haaland's camp led United to believe his representatives wanted to stay in control of the youngster's future by including a release clause in his contract -- something Dortmund accepted before his move to Germany. United's concern was that should Haaland be a success, he could be touted around Europe's biggest clubs at any point, with the club unable to do anything about it.

Dortmund want to keep Haaland, who has scored 21 goals in 22 Bundesliga games this season, for at least one more year, but their struggle to qualify for the Champions League has raised the possibility they may have to listen to offers for their star striker this summer. The Bundesliga side are seven points off the final remaining qualifying spot for next season's European competition, with seven matches remaining.

Dortmund's interim manager Edin Terzic was asked whether the speculation following Raiola's meetings with Real Madrid and Barcelona had become a distraction and said: "I can't stop Mino Raiola and Alfie Haaland from travelling.

"It's up to them, they're grown-ups and they can choose whatever they want to do. I just can have an impact on Erling and we are happy to have him in our team." -- Rob Dawson