Man Utd board blocked four summer deals Solskjaer wanted done

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was left frustrated by Manchester United’s decision to block a number of summer pieces of transfer business he wanted done at Old Trafford, claims a report.

While the United boss signed three players this summer, including landed his No 1 target in the world-record fee required to sign Harry Maguire, it’s reported that Solskjaer saw a number of other ins and outs denied by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and the club’s owners.

As per the report in the London Evening Standard, Solskjaer had advised the United board that, following the captures of Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James, that the club had a ‘bloated and imbalanced squad’ and a number of sales needed to be made.

As per the report, Marcos Rojo’s sale to Everton was blocked by the Glazers who initially did not want to sell to a what was perceived as a potential top-four rival and then placed a £25m fee on the Argentine’s head; that despite Solskjaer initially telling the player they’d let him on for a more modest fee.

Furthermore, Solskjaer was also willing to let Italian full-back Matteo Darmian return to Italy with a number of clubs showing an interesting, but again the move was apparently blocked.

It’s claimed Solskjaer wanted to offload the pair to help free up wages and push through deals for midfield targets Sean Longstaff and, in particular Bruno Fernandes. The failure to sign the latter of these on Wednesday drew widespread criticism from Louis Saha.

One man who Solskjaer also wanted out the door was Alexis Sanchez and it seems he will at least get his wish with a deal with Inter Milan – albeit at great expense to United – now agreed.

The report suggests Solskjaer has been left frustrated by the blocked sales in particular, with the club left with seven central defenders on their books and three specialist right-backs.

Meanwhile, Thursday’s papers claim Solskjaer has been promised the funds to go all out for a world-class attacker next summer.

 

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