Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he was wrong to say Man United could ‘exploit’ financial crisis

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he was wrong to say Manchester United could ‘exploit’ the economic situation in football as frustration grows over the club’s lack of new signings.

Solskjaer made the comment in April as the Covid pandemic took its toll on the sport and appeared to open the door for United to make some cut-price deals in this transfer window.

But having only signed Donny van de Beek for £40million from Ajax with less than four days to go until the window closes, Solskjaer admitted it was a poor choice of wording and pointed out that the financial impact has hit United just as severely. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted he was wrong to say Manchester United could ‘exploit’ the Covid-affected transfer market to bring in new players this summer

United’s pursuit of their No 1 summer target Jadon Sancho has faltered in recent weeks

Midfielder Donny van de Beek has so far been the only summer arrival at Old Trafford

‘I think my wording in lockdown ‘exploit’ was a bad word by me,’ said the United boss. 

‘I didn’t mean in that respect. I meant clubs out there have to move because of the situation and it might be a situation for us. At the moment we’ve not had those situations. We’ve lost loads of money as the other clubs have as well.’

Solskjaer wouldn’t be drawn on United’s transfer business despite the summer window closing at 11pm on Monday evening. 

‘I’m not going to go into the transfer window now because of course my focus is on Sunday’s game (against Tottenham) but the club’s always working hard to have the strongest possible squad,’ he said. 

‘If something happens in or out you’ll get to know.

‘We’ve got players here that we believe in. The transfer window is still open for a little while and the club has been working. They know my view and we’re here to strengthen in the long term.’ 

More to follow.  

Pressure is mounting on Ed Woodward over signings as Monday’s deadline moves closer

United beat Brighton 3-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night