Solskjaer to hold transfers talk with Woodward

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects to hold talks with Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward over the club’s plans for the January transfer window.

United have been tipped to sign a new centre-back during the coming weeks due to injury problems and a lack of form among their defenders, with Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and Roma’s Kostas Manolas among the names linked with Old Trafford.

Although he is only a caretaker boss, having been appointed to replace Jose Mourinho last month, Solskjaer plans to speak with Woodward about their intentions in the market.

However, he is confident there have been plans in place for some time, regardless of the uncertainty over who will be made permanent manager this year.

“The club’s probably had a plan,” he told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Reading. “It’s probably been planned since the summer, and the year before.

“The structure of the club is phenomenal. I’m sure they’ve got their targets. I’m here to voice my opinion on that. I’m sure we’ll sit down, me and Ed, and if they’ve got anything in the pipeline.

4 – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is only the second manager in Manchester United history to win his first four league games in charge of the club, after Matt Busby in 1946. Revival. #NEWMUN pic.twitter.com/Dt9XpCfGms

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 2, 2019

“I’m here now to work with the ones I’ve got. I have to say, the question of, ‘Could you have hoped for better?’ – I think they’ve all performed. As long as the players perform, they should always be given the next chance. That’s my job as well, to improve the team and individuals.”

Solskjaer said this week he would love the opportunity to stay on as manager after the end of the season, although he has always asserted he was only brought in from Molde as an interim figure.

The 45-year-old insists the speculation over his future, along with the increasingly vocal support from the United fans, will not prove a distraction as he attempts to bring success to the club in the coming months.

“It’s early doors,” he said. “Of course, when I came in, they were open and honest about having a process looking for the next manager. But the more you’re here, the more you enjoy it. But I’ve said: one game at a time, and the day they announce the next manager, good luck.

“I don’t get distracted easily. I’m very focused. I know what my job is: my job is now Reading, and then we go to Dubai to prepare for Tottenham. It’s not up to me to rate myself and judge myself. That’s for someone else. I was like that as a player, I just focused on what my job was.”