Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United need transfer signings to challenge Manchester City

ByEurosport

Updated 11/05/2021 at 21:18 GMT

After conceding the Premier League title to rivals Manchester City, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sent a message to the club's hierachy. Solskjaer said that United will need to be active in the transfer window if they are going to close the gap on City, who are 10 points ahead with three games of the season remaining.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has acknowledged the need to "strengthen" this summer to challenge Manchester City in the Premier League.

United's home defeat to Leicester on Tuesday saw rivals City clinch their third Premier League title in the last four years under Pep Guardiola.

Solskjaer sent a clear message to the club's hierarchy after the result, saying that they will need to be active in the upcoming transfer window to close the gap on their rivals.

Premier League

'Blaze a trail' - Webb hoping to entice former players into refereeing

23/12/2022 at 10:09

"If you want to take up the challenge with them we need to strengthen our squad," he said.

"The whole season has given us optimism and room for optimism but also improvement. Congratulations to City. They have had a fantastic season. I am very pleased with my boys that have made it to the last 10 days with a Manchester City side ahead of us that are lauded as the best in Europe.

• City crowned champions after United lose to Leicester
• There has never been a PL team as strong as City

"We want to take the next step and it might be that we need a couple more to strengthen the squad."

The recently appointed pairing of football director John Murtough and technical director Darren Fletcher will now face the task of getting the deals done to give Solskjaer the means of turning his side into a team that can fight for the title.

Borussia Dortmund duo Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland have both been linked with United, along with Tottenham striker Harry Kane.

With a clash with Liverpool coming up on Thursday, Solskjaer fielded a weakened side in the 2-1 loss to Leicester and he was clearly not happy with the congested fixtures.

Atletico rush to tie down United, PSG and Bayern target - Euro Papers

"It can’t be like this again. We can’t play like Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday to Thursday, it is impossible that’s the reason we made the changes. It’s unheard of at this level," he said.

Reflecting on the performance against the Foxes, with Mason Greenwood scoring the only goal for United, Solskjaer added: "We started off slow as you might expect because they have not had any time to prepare for the game but after they scored we had nothing to lose.

"We played some very good stuff and I was pleased with it. You see the leadership with Nemanja [Matic]. Mason [Greenwood] looked like a seasoned professional and he is only 19.

"We have not had too much time to prepare and we went into half-time pleased out didn’t get out of the traps and they got a goal from a corner that should have been a throw."

Additional reporting by Reuters

Premier League

'Situation is desperately sad' - Prem managers speak about Ukraine crisis

25/02/2022 at 21:58

Premier League

Conte: Spurs defeat to Wolves 'one of the best games we played'

13/02/2022 at 22:20

Premier League

Lingard given time off after transfer disappointment, will miss Boro tie

03/02/2022 at 16:00