Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has warned supporters that it may not be business as usual for Manchester United in the summer window as the financial impact of the pandemic could prevent the club from strengthening the way they want.
United seemed to have announced themselves as title challengers once again in a promising start to the season, while Liverpool and Manchester City failed to hit their heights of previous campaigns.
But City have since beem on a remarkable 21-game winning streak stretching back to December and now sit 15 points clear of second-placed United ahead of their meeting this weekend.
The distance between first and second in the table has amplified calls for the Red devils to improve their team with new signings at the end of the campaign.
However, Solskjaer sent a warning at his press conference on Tuesday and called for fans to be ‘realistic’ with their expectations.
‘The pandemic is definitely affecting everyone in football,’ the United manager told reporters in the build-up to his team’s game against Crystal Palace.
‘Of course the lack of income, the finances has affected everyone. It might affect us all well. ‘We have to be realistic and responsible in the way we do our business both on and off the pitch.
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‘There are improvements on the training ground, stadium – we have to look at the whole picture. Where can we spend the money? And how much is there? It’s just the real world now. It has changed.
‘I think there’s just going to be less and less transfers happening in the world of football with all these changes.’
‘You can look at it in different ways. We have players in the academy that we now can maybe give opportunities for,’ he added. ‘All clubs in the world are going through the same situation so it’s no different for other clubs than for us.’
But the Norwegian did reassure fans that the club were ‘always’ looking at possible avenues to better their current players.
‘We’re always looking to improve our squad,’ he said. ‘We’re always looking at better players, or course we are.’
