Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has downgraded transfer targets Declan Rice and Raul Jimenez.
The Norwegian has transformed the club’s transfer policy since his appointment in March 2019 and Solskjaer works exhaustively with his coaching staff to identify transfer targets and then to play them into tiers of priority.
Rice, the West Ham defender, has long been coveted by United and Jose Mourinho was a known admirer of the England international.
Solskjaer shares Mourinho’s fondness but the defender is no longer considered a priority according to the Independent, given the partnership between Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire, as well as Rice’s hefty £75m price tag.
United have similarly been interested in Jiminez and particularly so since their failure to sign Dortmund ace Erling Haaland.
However, Anthony Martial’s form in the second half of the season has been exemplary and Bruno Fernandes’ arrival means United will only often play with one out-and-out centre forward.
Fernandes is a typical example of how Solskjaer’s transfer policy works as the playmaker was a second tier target last summer.
United were unwilling to pay Sporting’s £75m asking price and chose to back away from a deal out of principle.
However, as the season developed and Paul Pogba’s absence left a vacuum in midfield, United felt a deal was more viable and they ended up signing Fernandes for an initial fee of £47m.
Solskjaer’s desire to sign Jimenez has also been mitigated by the loan extension that Odion Ighalo signed on Monday.
The Nigerian was due to return to Shanghai Shenhua this week but United have agreed a deal that will see him stay at the club until at least January 2021.
The deal is set to cost United around £10.5m in all and suggests that Solskjaer will not sign a striker this summer.
Jadon Sancho, Eduaro Camavinga and Jack Grealish are all targets.
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