The Manchester United manager also revealed from when the summer signing Jadon Sancho will train with his new teammates.
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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has provided an update on the prospective arrival of Raphael Varane. The Norwegian has also revealed from when the summer signing Jadon Sancho will train with his new teammates. The England winger, who was part of the Euro 2020, completed his transfer from Borussia Dortmund last month but was not involved at last week’s St Andrews camp. The Man United boss has now confirmed that he would be present at Carrington on Monday. He will then evaluate Sancho, hoping that he can be involved to some extent in the Premier League opener with Leeds United at Old Trafford on 14th August.
After the 4-0 friendly win over Everton on Saturday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also provided an update on Raphael Varane’s situation. A fee has already been agreed for the Frenchman to sign from Real Madrid, however, a few complications with a visa has resulted in the confirmation being delayed. The centre-back is currently in the country and will isolate before conducting a medical.
“Of course the medical with Raphael has to be done,” said Ole. “He’s isolating at the moment, he had to wait for visas, so unfortunately that took a few more days than expected but we’re gonna follow the protocols and the rules so it’s took a few more days than we hoped for. Jadon is in for Monday and hopefully then he’s in decent nick and can be involved.”
“Hopefully, we’ll get Raphael and Jadon in with the group,” Solskjaer added when speaking to MUTV. “That’s important for us when you sign two players like that, that you get them in.”
The manager then gave fitness updates on Jesse Lingard and Dean Henderson. “Jesse, he feels okay, and hopefully it’ll stay that way, but when you get the positive test you’ve got to isolate even if you’re feeling well,” he added. “Dean, he was positive early on and then he’s negative in his testing [now] but he’s not felt as energised or sharp as he has done. So he’s still fatigued and feeling the after effects so you never know, you’ve seen so many effects of this virus so he’s got a few days still to rest and then we’ll check up on him.”
Speaking about Anthony Martial, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said, “Anthony has had a bad spell with injuries, of course these were his first 45 minutes. He’s been training well with us but as players who’ve been out for a while, they need some more sharpness, need some more work. He tried to do the right thing; it didn’t come off all the time, but it’s better than what you fear sometimes when he’s been injured for five months – since March.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer then went on to speak about the 4-0 friendly win over Everton on Saturday. “When you make changes, the games in pre-season always go this way, or most of the time go this way [intense first half, quieter second half]. It was about getting the minutes in, try to get the intensity, the work they’ve put in so far in pre-season has been good and we got rewarded with a few nice goals today,” he added.
“That was a positive. We did okay fitness wise but Leeds is a different kettle of fish with the way they play. Every team in the league poses a different challenge so today was about intensity and going home tonight with four goals. That gives us confidence.”
