SHOW ME THE MON£Y
United boss Solskjaer: I need quality signings to catch City and Liverpool...
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has urged his Manchester United bosses to splash the cash.
And the club’s refusal to meet Borussia Dortmund’s £105million valuation of Jadon Sancho has prompted the Bundesliga giants to claim the England star is going nowhere.
Solskjaer has stuck steadfastly by his stance of refusing to talk about individual transfer targets.
And a question about Sancho, ahead of today’s Europa League semi-final with Sevilla, brought a chuckle from the Norwegian.
But the United boss accepts that closing the gap on Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the Premier League is no laughing matter.
As a campaign that is now into its 13th month finally draws to a close, Solskjaer was not shy in telling his employers that the only way for his team to compete next season is for them to show him the money.
After qualifying for the Champions League, the United boss is in no doubt that he has earned their total backing.
Solskjaer said: “We still have a way to go to get to the level of the teams at the top of the Premier League. They are too far ahead of us.
“We are still growing, getting better, of course, but we aren’t the finished article. Nowhere near.
“We want to go as far as we possibly can in this tournament. I think we all realise we are in a special moment in history.
“But that wi l l stretch all the squads and it means you need a big squad for next season.
“You need to plan ahead. It is not just about 11, 12, or 13 players. You have to have 19, 20, 21 or 22 that you really rely on because if you play every three days for a full year, it’s going to be mentally and physically difficult.
“We are always working towards hav ing a competitive squad and the challenge for us now is to take the next step.
“That means winning trophies and keep trying to close the gap to the top two teams.
“And we have also got to make sure that the teams who finished below us in the table stay behind us.”
Solskjaer added: “It’s a race. You can see teams building.
“We’re always looking at the squad and player logistics. It is definitely about quality – and it is going to cost money to get in players who are better than the ones we already have.
“We’re just working as normal and sticking to a plan. Qualifying for the Champions League brings us a harder schedule, but it also gives us more motivation to be in with the best and challenging. That will make these players better.
“Champions League makes us more sporting and financially attractive, so that’s another factor.”
Solskjaer has been allowed to spend almost £200m on his squad over the past 12 months to land Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Bruno Fernandes and Daniel James.
But a hefty chunk of that investment was offset by selling Romelu Lukaku.
It is understood that United will need to sell again if they can get close to Dortmund’s valuation of Sancho and the £300,000-a-week wages the 20-year-old is looking for.
It cost the club £10m to get Alexis Sanchez off the payroll and they are hoping to add up to £60m to Solskjaer’s transfer kitty by finding buyers for Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo.