With no signings just yet, Manchester United risk undoing the good progress this season by failing to build.
The players return next week for first team training and if manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is quizzed about the transfer market, he will no doubt back his squad.
After all, it is sensible for a manager to talk up his players on the even of the season, rather than tell them they are not good enough, when actually getting transfers done is out of his control.
But Solskjaer cannot backtrack too much, having already made his position crystal clear over his desire to see new players arrive.
If the United boss does arrive back as a ray of positivity amid the gloom among fans over a lack of transfers, it should be remembered that it will be a public act for the media, as his true feelings have already been made clear.
What Solskjaer has said
Speaking on July 26 after United beat Leicester City to clinch a third place finish and Champions League qualification, Solskjaer spoke decisively.
The boss was quoted by: Goal: “The club knows what I feel we need, but that’s up to them to go and sort it out.”
A fortnight later amid the Europa League run, Solskjaer sounded a little more anxious.
On August 15 he was quoted by The Evening Standard “It’s a race. You can see teams building. We’re always looking at the squad and player logistics.
“It is definitely about quality – and it is going to cost money to get in players who are better than the ones we already have. We still have a way to go to get to the level of the teams at the top of the Premier League. They are too far ahead of us.”
A couple of days later, Solskjaer was quoted in The Mail: ‘We definitely need to improve if we want to move up the table and on in the cups.
“We are working to improve what we have. We’re always looking to improve the squad.”
Slow progress
Solskjaer admitted United were in ‘a race’ against other teams and against time. In the fortnight since, little to no progress has been made.
The only improvement to the squad has been the decision to bring returning loanee Dean Henderson into the first team fold.
At this rate, it is unlikely United will have any new signings ready for when the team returns to training next week. Will any have even arrived by time the season starts for us on September 19?
Whatever is happening behind the scenes at United is unclear from the outside, but to see Solskjaer’s pleas for new faces get ignored leaves an uncomfortable feeling.
Even if Jadon Sancho is ultimately too expensive, this squad needs strengthening, and there are smart deals which can be done even with a budget of £50 million, to add two or three squad players.
Solskjaer can try to soften the blow of a lack of transfer business with positivity, talking up the current stars and potential of academy talents, but his true feelings have already been made clear.
Even if he tries to backtrack, he has already strongly expressed his stance, and supporters would do well to remember that over the coming weeks.
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