Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Manchester United has tackled its squad balance this calendar year with four signings.
United recruited Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, both 21 at the time, in Solskjaer’s first summer transfer window and Harry Maguire was 26 at the time of his £ 80 million arrival in the same window.
Marouane Fellaini, Ander Herrera, Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling and Alexis Sanchez left United on loan or permanently in Solskjaer’s first year and all were in their 30s or on the verge of turning 30.
Despite his preference for targets aged between 23 and 28, United bought Edinson Cavani, 33, at the October deadline, after lending 31-year-old forward Odion Ighalo in January.
Bruno Fernandes, Donny van de Beek and Alex Telles fall into United’s preferred age bracket, but are more experienced players than Wan-Bissaka and James, who had only played senior football for 18 months prior to their transfers.
Manchester United were hit by a double Neymar dork when they lost 3-1 to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday in their crucial Champions League game.
It means United are traveling to Germany and need a point from their last group match against RB Leipzig to qualify for the last 16.
Before then, the Reds have a tough Premier League trip to West Ham to negotiate over the weekend.
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“We were the youngest team in the Premier League last season,” Solskjaer explains. “And we looked at ways to improve the squad, either as young talent or experienced, or like Bruno.
“With the addition of Bruno, Donny, Alex and Edinson, the balance of the team has improved [with] experience.
“With Edinson: one, his positioning, because he’s a striker, he’s a different kind of striker and we can play in a different way. And his experience in world football: he came in and showed the young boys how they you can live life and last a long time in your career. “
Solskjaer will face former United manager David Moyes on Saturday with West Ham fifth in the Premier League. Moyes was fired by United from a six-year deal in less than 10 months and has since claimed he needed more time despite a trophy-less 2013-14 that saw United fail to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 19 years.
Solskjaer is nearing the second anniversary of his appointment as United’s manager, initially on a concierge basis, but has not discussed the uniqueness of the role with any of his predecessors.
“I didn’t sit down and had conversations with David, no,” said Solskjaer. “When you’re here it’s the biggest club in the world and it’s a different animal from anything else.
“But we’ve had different discussions and I really admire David for what he’s done in his career. And now you see how West Ham is performing and the results they get show his qualities.”
United lost to Paris Saint-Germain for the fourth time at Old Trafford this season, but won the last eight away games in the league – a club record.
The last time United lost away from home in the Premier League was at Anfield on January 16 and Solskjaer believes they are showing signs of consistency.
“Depends on how many games you want back? Football is a game with people and they live their own lives. We’ve played against some great teams,” he added.
“Go back 40 games, we are one of the most consistent teams in the Premier League in terms of performance, so you are disappointed when you lose a game. I thought we played really well on Wednesday, and it’s fine margins sometimes. you win or lose.
“The PSG game was miles better than West Brom, for example, but you beat West Brom and you don’t get three points against PSG. I think we’re getting less bad performance and getting more consistent.”
“Ultimately you never have control over the result, which is determined by the margins.”
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