There could be trouble in the Manchester United camp as boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has failed to reach an agreement with the club’s board over a transfer budget.
One week ago, the former Cardiff City boss was given a three-year deal after reviving the club following the sack of Jose Mourinho last December.
United want a director of sports to aid in the transfer of players. In recent years, United’s transfer activities under executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward have been criticised. Woodward gave almost all the transfer responsibilities to David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
Solskjaer will work under a similar structure, albeit with the eventual addition of a technical director and he has already identified the four areas of his squad that he wants to strengthen this summer.
However, after a sensational unbeaten run in his first three months, United’s top four hopes have taken a dent in the last fortnight with defeats against Arsenal and Wolves.
Qualifying for the Champions League would boost Solskjaer’s budget by around £60m and with such uncertainty over the club’s position the Norwegian was unable to finalise a budget during discussions with the club last month, Metro.co.uk understands.
A failure to qualify for the Champions League would make it even harder to attract the likes of Jadon Sancho to Old Trafford, as well as pushing the club into the undesirable Europa League.
United will, of course, back Solskjaer significantly whether the club qualify for the Champions League or not but it’s far from the only issue hanging over the Norwegian.
The 46-year-old inherited a squad with question marks over several first-team players and the club have failed to resolve contract issues with Juan Mata and Ander Herrera in recent months.
As it stands, the pair will leave the club on a free at the end of the season but United remain intent on keeping both players at Old Trafford.
Should they decline new offers, both will need to be replaced and United will feel inclined to allocate more financial help to Solskjaer.
It means that United’s plans, ahead of what will be a crucial summer for the club, will be delayed until the end of the season.