As transfer uncertainty continues, what’s next for Manchester United?

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side need new signings to have a chance of a title challenge

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer poses with Donny van de Beek and Harry Maguire (Getty)

There have been times this summer with Manchester United where it’s difficult to know what next. Take the saga that has dominated the period, as they try to sign Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho.

Some sources close to the player say terms were agreed at the start of the summer. Some United sources maintain that was never the case. There was frustration. As of now, the saga rumbles on, a significant gap between the clubs’ positions.

He is still United’s main target, although they are willing to look elsewhere. Borussia Dortmund are meanwhile said to be irritated with the English club for never “showing real intent”, and are now prepared to keep him for another year. There is already talk of a title push, and maybe a move to Liverpool or Bayern Munich next year.

It is perhaps fitting that a signing seen as important to United’s future is so uncertain, with so many perspectives. It is much the same with the current set-up.

It’s not just difficult to know what next at Old Trafford, but difficult to know how good the current team and manager actually are.

A good 2019-20 league finish is offset by what felt like underwhelming failures in cups that were there for the taking.

Poor runs of form just as quickly follow wondrous winning streaks. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is either someone still lucky to get the job at all, or someone who just gets the club, with the benefit of that still to come.

United have had to learn the value of patience.

The first thing that should be said is that the Norwegian does have something good with the players. The vast majority like him and look up to him. It has helped produce some big performances and wins, especially in last season’s victories over Manchester City.

It also keeps a healthy atmosphere, in a way that was actually rather rare in the five and a half years between Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure and Solskaer’s appointment. That really isn't to be dismissed. It is one of Solskjaer's many good points.

As with much else at United right now, though, some see two sides to this as well. One source close to the squad talks of how Solskjaer operates in “an old-school Scandinavian mode of management”, which affords the players an awful lot of trust, both in their lives and on the pitch. There is a broader laissez-faire approach to tactics that is closer to Jose Mourinho’s idea of attacking than Pep Guardiola’s or Jurgen Klopp’s.

The worry is that it is out of synch with the cutting edge of the game. United sources would argue that it allows a flexibility.

One thing with Solskjaer’s approach is certain. It is much better - to a disproportionate degree - when it is being played at maximum fitness, and players are at their sharpest. They just look a totally different team.

It is no coincidence United’s best form under the Norwegian has so far come at the start of seasons, or the beginning of Project Restart. That is something they are going to have to manage, but that is also where squad depth is essential, which again raises the issue of recruitment.

It is why some of the questions around Donny van de Beek’s signing are surprising. United badly need quality alternatives to last season’s first-choice XI, especially in a season as intense as this. Squad depth will never be so important. Van de Beek is a very good purchase.

A fairer question might be over the weighting of the squad, and how concentrated quality is in some areas.

That is primarily seen in the number-one spot. As one source insists, a talent like Dean Henderson hasn’t come back to be second-choice. The issue is that he’s trying to dislodge the best-paid player at the club, and a goalkeeper of real status, in David De Gea.

It reflects an issue some around the club raise, that there doesn’t seem to be a clear plan of succession in a range of positions. There are some very good players that can potentially operate in a number of areas - with Mason Greenwood the pick of them - but it’s still all a little vague, without the same certainty of definition as other top sides.

Contrast to Liverpool or Chelsea, where there are obvious first-choice players, and obvious deputies. Many feel United could do with operating with the utter certainty in the market that Klopp does, or Sir Alex Ferguson did. When there’s a problem, they just make sure it’s fixed.

One thing in all this is undeniable. United do need at least two more signings, to at least make some kind of challenge for the title. They are still too short otherwise.

It would be a shame, as there is cause for optimism, just as there is also cause for caution.

That’s where the club are right now, and it’s hard to say what next.