Finally José Mourinho has been sacked as manager of Manchester United, and former United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær is now interim manager until the end of the season. Now, it has been reported that he will be given €50 million to sign new transfer targets for this season’s winter market.
Solskjær is expected to bring fresh energy into the club, the players and the fans alike – just like he did in his playing days at the United when he was employed as an impact sub. The baby-faced assassin – as he is known among his followers – is also expected to bring a new central defender and possibly an attack minded player, probably a midfielder.
Earlier, Mourinho clashed with United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward over the club’s transfer policy in the summer and his request to sign a new central defender was not met.
The former United striker was officially appointed as interim manager to replace Mourinho on Wednesday. Solskjær arrived in England and took charge of his first training session on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s clash against his former club Cardiff City.
Mourinho’s reign ended with a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool which left United 19 points behind Jürgen Klopp’s side and 11 points off fourth-placed Chelsea.
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Possible transfer targets include Tottenham’s centre back Toby Alderweireld, Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and Éder Militão of Porto. Douglas Costa is also a possible target as he has fallen out of favour at the Italian champions Juventus.
We can confirm that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the 2018/19 season.
He will be joined by Mike Phelan as first-team coach, together with Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna. #MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 19, 2018
Also in the news is that Mauricio Pochettino is wanted by the club as their next full time manager, but stealing him away from Tottenham won’t come cheap; he recently signed a new contract with the club and is also said to be happy there, ready to lead them to their new stadium is to be inaugurated next year.
United stand at sixth position, 19 points off the top and 11 points away from the top four. Only time will tell where exactly they will stand at the end of the season. Solskjær is expected to bring in the attacking instinct that has been largely missing with the current side, often being too defensive and always under pressure.
Let’s see what they bring against Cardiff tomorrow.
