Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has warned Manchester United fans not to expect his club to make major transfers during the upcoming January window.
Solskjaer is desperate to add an experienced forward when the window reopens and he is willing to compromise on his blueprint to bring in Mario Mandzukic, 33, as a short-term fix, while he is a keen admirer of Lyon’s Moussa Dembele.
Ed Woodward will make the £73million generated by the sale of Romelu Lukaku in the summer available to Solskjaer, but the Norwegian admits good deals are hard to come by in January.
‘The priority now is to get the players fit and get to the next round,’ he said ahead of tomorrow’s Europa League match against Partizan Belgrade.
‘We always look at the long term with transfers, it might be none, might be one, might be two in January. It’s always the summer… you can’t really do too many big deals in January.’
United have been short of goals all season but Solskjaer is hopeful the return of Anthony Martial will ease the burden on Marcus Rashford.
‘Anthony is a vital player for us,’ he added. ‘He’s got different attributes to Marcus, Dan and Jesse.
‘He can hold the ball up for us, you’ve got players making runs in behind. Anthony’s been missed in training as well. When he’s in a good mood, it affects other people.
‘He’s been in a good mood when he’s been with us. He was working too hard early on, which made him re-hurt [sic] his injury…
‘Marcus, I think he’s developed. He’s 22 but he’s experienced in his career. I made my debut for Molde then and you think ‘wow, he can reach the top.’
‘Anthony’s playing as a No.9 and Marcus has been playing wide. It was a decision that we made when Anthony was away that Marcus would play through the middle.’
MORE: Marcus Rashford rates Manchester United’s Premier League top-four chances after miserable run
