Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits coronavirus could see Man United take cautious approach in transfer market

The Norwegian admits he does not how much the Red Devils have to spend after the Covid-19 pandemic

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists Manchester United have likely taken a bigger financial hit than their rivals due to the coronavirus pandemic with funds for transfers now uncertain.

United withdrew their annual financial targets in May after losing about £23 million in quarterly revenue after the temporary suspension of the season due to Covid-19.

And Solskjaer believes United, who also have 429 million pounds in debt, could adopt a cautious approach in the transfer market.

“We’ll have to take a big look at things ourselves to see how hard we’ve been hit,” Solskjaer told reporters ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final match at Norwich City.

“It’s not for me to say we are going to have X amount because I don’t really know. We are a financially strong club, but we are also probably being hit more than anybody else."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes United could be hit harder than rivals after Covid-19 (Getty) (Getty Images)

United are fifth in the Premier League, five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, with seven games left to play.With second-placed Manchester City facing a European ban for breaching UEFA financial rules, fifth place should guarantee qualification for the lucrative Champions League, unless City win an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport

City will discover the fate of their appeal next month, while United could also qualify for Europe’s elite club competition by winning the Europa League this season.

“Let’s see how quickly we can get our fans back into the stadium,” Solskjaer added.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty and these three or four months, every businessman in the world, every footballer in the world, I think everyone is still unsure what the effect will be.”

Reuters contributed to this report