Ole looking to strike it rich in the summer
REDS BOSS WON’T RULE OUT SWOOP FOR A NEW STRIKER
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer says United are open to signing a long-term striker amid issues with their current goalscorers.
Edinson Cavani, 34, has impressed since he joined the club on deadline day in October but the Reds are yet to extend the one-year option in his contract.
Anthony Martial, 25, has started double the number of games the Uruguayan has but has as many goals - seven - and has netted just twice in his last 15 games.
Mason Greenwood, 19, started up front at Chelsea on Sunday yet has managed only four goals in a testing second season.
United manager Solskjaer is an admirer of Tottenham figurehead Harry Kane and is still in touch with Borussia Dortmund marksman Erling Haaland, having managed him at Molde before trying to bring the youngster to the Reds last season.
“We’re always looking to improve our squad, of course we are,” Solskjaer said.
“And I always say with Mason, Anthony and Edinson, when we can really get them firing that means we’re a very good team.
“But we’re always looking at better players, of course we are.”
United are due to announce their financial results for the second quarter tomorrow and it is looking likely the club will go through the whole season without welcoming any paying fans inside Old Trafford.
The Reds spent £76.6m in initial fees on Donny van de Beek, Amad, Facundo Pellistri and Alex Telles in the summer, and signed Cavani on a free, having spent £140m in the previous summer.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is expected to hit spending across Europe in the upcoming summer transfer window - as it did in January - and Solskjaer has predicted fewer transfers in the next market.
“It’s definitely affecting everyone in football, the pandemic,” acknowledged the Reds boss. “Of course, the lack of income, the finances, has affected everyone. It might affect us as well. “We have to be realistic and responsible in the way we do our business both on and off the pitch. “There are improvements on the training ground, stadium - we have to look at the whole picture. Where can we spend the money? And how much is there?
“It’s just the real world now. It has changed.
“You can look at it in different ways [with a] rebuild. We also have players in the academy that we now
With Mason, Anthony and Edinson, when we can really get them firing it means we are a very good team
can maybe give opportunities for. All clubs in the world are going through the same situation, so it’s no different for other clubs than for us.
“I think there’s just going to be less and less transfers happening in the world of football with all these changes.”
United head to Selhurst Park tonight to take on Crystal Palace as they try to bridge the gap to runaway leaders City.
The Reds were top of the Premier League at the halfway stage of the campaign, but have since won just two league games, drawn four and lost to basement club Sheffield United, a defeat that triggered their collapse in form.
There have been suggestions United lost their nerve once they reached the summit. Solskjaer, however, insists that was not the case.
“Not at all, that’s the Premier League, the pressure has not been there at all,” he claimed. “We enjoy being as close to the top as possible, that’s the quality of the Premier League, the opposition, the quality of tactics, the demands of the season.
“We’ve played I don’t know how many games, there’s Europa League, the Premier League, the FA Cup.
“It’s the strangest year for all for everyone.
“Pressure, no? That’s just the Premier League.”