£412m spent and Solskjaer Man Utd side are still 'unbalanced'

21 Oct 2021 19:47 BST
7 min read

Bruno Fernandes rapidly established himself as Man Utd’s key player after arriving from Sporting CP — © ProShots

Former Chelsea star Joe Cole believes Manchester United’s squad is still unbalanced after the club have spent over £400 million on new recruits during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time as manager.

Solskjaer was placed in charge of the Old Trafford side in December 2018 and in that time the club have spent no less than £412 million on signing new players in a bid to build the Norwegian manager a title-winning team.

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However, despite spending a vast amount of money and bringing in world famous stars like Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo, Cole believes Man Utd’s team still isn’t good enough to win the league title.

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"It’s an interesting project at Man United because they've obviously shown a lot of belief in Ole, and in his processes," said Cole.

"He’s been given so much now, the squad is there - I think still a tad unbalanced, I think they'd like to be stronger in the middle of the park."

He added: "They’ve added probably the greatest player in Man United’s history back to the club, he’s already made a massive impact, so I think for Ole the pressure is on, he has to go and deliver.

"I think it has to happen this year now, he's been there a long time. He has got the squad to do it, can he install that mentality? Again, time will tell."

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Is Man Utd’s team unbalanced?

Since taking over the reins at Old Trafford, Solskjaer has overseen the signing of four defenders, seven attacking players and just one midfielder in the form of Donny van de Beek.

As such, while Man Utd may have world class central defenders and stars like Ronaldo up front, their midfield is often composed of older or simply under-par performers like Nemanja Matic or Fred. Paul Pogba, arguably the only stand-out star in the middle of the pitch, could now be set to leave at the end of the season.

Whether Man Utd stick with the Norwegian tactician this season or indeed win any silverware, a new No.8 will surely be top of the shopping list in the summer or indeed January.