Manchester United transfer news: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ready to discuss targets with Ed Woodward

United’s interim manager is keen to discuss who could be arriving at Old Trafford this month, but accepts that he may not have much of a say in who those arrivals will be

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes to speak with Ed Woodward regarding Manchester United's transfer business (Getty)

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes to sit down with Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to discuss their January transfer plans, though he accepts that they likely had everything in place long before he arrived to replace Jose Mourinho.

While Solskjaer is only in the job as United manager until the end of the season under his current terms, the Norwegian does hope to have a say on who the club attempt to sign this month given that he will have to work them into his plans to try and force United’s way back into the Premier League top-four reckoning.

United have been linked recently with Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld, who on Friday had his contract extended by Spurs for an additional 12 months to 2020 that also activates a £25m release clause, while other reported targets include Inter Milan centre-back Milan Skriniar and Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

But while Solskjaer will look to speak to Woodward about his transfer plans, he does accept that his own preferences are unlikely to alter any new arrivals that may have been planned as long ago as the start of the season.

"You don't just plan the next day or the next month,” Solskjaer said. “I'm sure they've got plans for this transfer window. It's probably been planned since the summer and the year before.

"The structure of the club is phenomenal. I'm sure they've got their targets. Obviously I'm here to voice my opinion and I'm sure we'll sit down, me and Ed, and see if they've got anything in the pipeline."

As has become familiar since replacing Mourinho last month, Solskjaer’s own future once again dominated discussions at his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup third-round clash against Reading. The 45-year-old has made no secret of his desire to stay at Old Trafford, although United will have to pay Norwegian side Molde as he is currently on-loan until May when he is expected to return to his homeland to resume his previous role.

Yet having won all four of his games in charge so far, Solskjaer is threatening to throw a cat among the pigeons, given that a continuation of this form would make him impossible to ignore.

Yet for now, Solskjaer is looking to only focus on the next game, which comes in the form of the visit of Reading to United which will be followed by a short warm-weather training camp in Dubai to prepare for next weekend’s crunch clash with Tottenham.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes to speak with Ed Woodward regarding Manchester United's transfer business (Getty)

"It's early doors. Of course when I came in they were open and honest about they're going to have a process looking for the next manager. But the more you're here, the more you enjoy it.

"I've said one game at a time and the day they announce the next manager, if it's me or someone else, good luck."

"I don't get distracted easily. I'm very focused. I know what my job is. My job is now Reading, then we go to Dubai to prepare for Tottenham. That's my job. It's not my job to rate myself and judge myself. That's up to someone else."