OLE WILL BE BACKED TO SPLASH CASH

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER will be given funds to continue his Manchester United rebuild in January, as the club stress they are prepared to wait for signs of recovery.

Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward says United will attempt to land two targets in January, with a striker and a midfielder high priorities.

Despite Solskjaer’s side sitting two points off the relegation zone ahead of Sunday’s clash against Liverpool at Old Trafford, Woodward says they are prepared to be patient with their young manager.

“Ole has instilled the discipline back into an environment where we may have lacked it in recent years,” said Woodward. “He is building a squad that respects the club’s history, in which players work hard and respect their team-mates. No one is bigger than the club.

“The changes we saw over the summer have resulted in a very young squad. But it’s also a squad with the players and the culture that provides a base camp for us to build and grow from.”

United’s board are ready to stomach some short-term pain to reap long-term benefits, given a cultural reboot was needed after three failed managerial appointments since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Woodward said the board have given Solskjaer, below, “100 per cent” backing after he inherited a team who were not fit enough for the style he wanted them to play.

He also accepted that after a summer of difficult transfer decisions, which included letting Romelu Lukaku go to Inter Milan without signing a replacement, they knew a difficult campaign lay ahead.

“We should all be proud that the significant investments we have made in our academy are now bearing fruit,” he said. “There’s a lot more we need to do but that’s coming in the next few years. We know this is a strong competitive advantage for us and an area that we’ll continue to focus on and invest in.”