Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Forget Jose Mourinho, Man Utd don't need superstar signings to become title challengers

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told Ed Woodward Manchester United do not need to splash the cash on “superstars” to become serious title challengers again after outlining his longer-term vision of the club to the executive vice-chairman.

Jose Mourinho complained repeatedly about the need for United to ramp up their spending in order to be able to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for top spot, despite an outlay of almost £400 million in his two-and-a-half years in charge.

United have been accused of scattergun spending in recent years and appeared to be seeking a quick fix when they signed Alexis Sanchez, now 30, on an eye-watering £500,000-a-week, four-and-a-half-year contract 13 months ago.

But Solskjaer believes the key to United getting back on top again domestically and in Europe will lie in maximising their existing talents, as well as careful recruitment with an emphasis on quality over quantity.

The priority for United - who will move above Chelsea into fourth if they beat Fulham at Craven Cottage at lunchtime on Saturday in what Solskjaer called a “character revealer” - is to sign a pedigree centre-half this summer, with Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly among the targets.

Asked how many additions United will need in the summer to become title challengers, Solskjaer said: “I think it is about who we’ve got here as well. If every single player can improve by one or two per cent… it is not about X amount of players.

“It has to be the right one, and one who fits. The personality has to fit with the team, it is not just [about] buying a superstar and that will fix things and suddenly we go from challenging [for] the top four to being champions.”

Solskjaer believes the age profile of United’s squad offers huge scope for improvement but, as well as seeing the younger players such as Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw kicking on, the caretaker manager wants Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard to push on to the next level and an uplift in performance from experienced heads, Sanchez included.

“The club and the team can, yes,” Solskjaer said when asked if United are good enough to compete for all trophies. “If you look at the players, the age of them, they’re young and they’ve got plenty of development in them. But we also need some experienced players to stay and step up and really become the leaders.

“Paul now is [25] , Jesse [26]… they’re at that age where we expect them to take that responsibility and not just be a young boy that floats around. So this club, this team, yes definitely [we can compete for everything].”

Solskjaer cited the example of Molde finishing 11th in his first season in charge before winning the Norwegian title the following year as an example of how quickly things can improve. Having won nine of his 10 games in interim charge, Solskjaer has made no secret of his desire to land the manager’s job on a permanent basis and he has already spelt out his vision of how he believes the team will look two years from now.

“I think we’re too far behind this year, obviously, but you’ve got to catch up the other teams ahead of us, especially City, Liverpool but now Tottenham. So it’s three teams who have been far ahead but we’ve beaten Tottenham so we know that we’re capable of that but we need the consistency.

“But two years’ time is long enough, but also short enough, to say that we’ve got the possibility to make a big difference in our preparation, in everything. Next year - you always hope [to win the title], of course. I came in from Molde, they were 11th in 2010, and in 2011 we won the league, so you can never say never.

“We have a vision and picture of how we want to look in a few years and we have to think long-term and also short-term. I’ve got a picture of what this Manchester United team should look in a couple of years but I put my views to Ed and the club.”