With the recent improvement of Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer which sees them finish 2020 at the 2nd position on the table, it has been reported that OGS is being backed by the board even after having two satisfactory years behind him. Even though we see glimpses of quality from his tactics but less of results, what we can be sure of is that the amount of deadwood has been gradually reducing under his regime.
As heard from reports inside, Chief Executive Ed Woodward is totally backing the former striker and Norwegian International into having full and undivided support from the board, going into the new season.
“Of course, we recognise there’s more hard work ahead to achieve the consistency needed to win trophies. But we see positive signs on the pitch and the training ground that reinforce our belief in the progress being made by Ole, his coaching team and the players.”
“We will continue to support Ole with a planned, long-term approach to recruitment, focused on the summer windows.”
Even though he also has the backing of the players, some results need to change, which would have otherwise been won very easily. Also, with the comment, Ed Woodward also rules out any chance of a happening transfer season in January- which was kind off needed considering the current position of the squad. With Amad Diallo and Moises Caicedo coming in and the additions of Facundo Pellistri, it certainly seems Ole is securing the future, but is it at the cost of the present?
Keeping these things in mind, some of the places that need improvement very soon are the Right Wing and the Centre-Back positions with Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho and RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano among the names on United’s wish list. These long-term targets and their addition might turn the table for United as well as keeping their long-term options open with Bruno settling in the team.
Upamecano is one of the world’s best young centre-backs but RB Leipzig are set to lose him in June when a €42 million (£38m) release clause becomes active. So, it is likely that United might work hard to catch his signature with an offer that might be somewhat more than the clause and might be able to get from Leipzig what they want. This in turn would mean that Ole might be able to set up a team that we haven’t seen in the last 7 years, except for the season when Falcao and Ibrahimovic joined but they didn’t fire as to what was expected of them.
