According to the latest reports, Manchester United are prepared to offload three players in the upcoming summer transfer window and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed his plans for the future. Norwegian has given us a hint of what to expect with the possibility of playing Champions League football as one of the most important agenda for the next season.
Manchester United were in tatters at the start of the season when Jose Mourinho was in charge of the club. The Portuguese manager instilled a very defensive philosophy into the club which did not go down well with the Manchester United faithful. Football under Mourinho lacked conviction and with no results, the writing was on the wall for the 56-year-old manager. Fierce rivals Liverpool hammered the final blow for Mourinho after a 3-1 humiliation back in December and the ‘Special One’ was fired by the Red Devils just a few days later.
The club then turned to a familiar face in the form of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to stabilize the club at least until the end of the season. Solskjaer has exceeded expectations since taking charge of the club and winning the first 14 of 19 games, guiding the club to the quarterfinals of the Champions League and bringing United into contention for a top 4 berth as well. These impressive displays gave Solskjaer the job on a permanent basis and 46-year-old now has the task of building his squad for the future to win trophies.
However, there are a few players who could be at the exit door at Old Trafford and the three potential names are Antonio Valencia, Matteo Darmian and Marcos Rojo. Valencia’s contract expires at the end of the summer and it’s unlikely that the Ecuadorian will be offered a new deal. Rojo and Darmian also look set to depart Manchester as they are considered surplus at the club. Even the Spanish midfield duo of Ander Herrera and Juan Mata are nearing the end of their contracts in the summer and replacements will likely be lined up. Solskjaer, though, has hinted out at possible plans that he has for the future of the club.
The 46-year-old Manchester United boss spoke to the Manchester United Evening News and said, “Of course, when I got the job we were 11 points behind fourth. Now we’ve given ourselves a great chance to be in the top four, and even three, so that’s got to be the short-term target in the league, the Premier League is vital for us and of course we’ve been discussing how to move the club forward, that doesn’t mean we have been saying Y amount of money or Y amount of players, we have sat down and discussed but now it’s easier to be clear about what we need to do, because we will do some business this summer.”
Manchester United wan spend £200m ontop Transfers this summer. #mufc
Oya list the players you go like make we sign❓👇🏿 pic.twitter.com/IUYhLddany
— MUIP (@ManUtdInPidgin) April 9, 2019
Solskjaer went on to explain that Champions League qualification is now the most important thing for United this season, “The lure of Champions League is important for us, for some players it might be but to play for Man United you know if you sign a contract for four years or five years you know you’re gonna be playing Champions League, we are now in a great position to get in the Champions League but that’s not decided until 12 May, probably.”
