Solskjaer suggests it is unlikely Manchester United will re-sign Rossi

The Mirror believe that it is unlikely that Manchester United would succeed with a move for Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho. The paper points out that Coutinho was desperate to join the Spanish champions last season, and that he has said he wants to stay at the club and improve his form. They also suggest that having played for Liverpool before his move, he may not entertain a move to the club’s rivals United, somewhat overestimating the influence that footballing tradition has on the average player.

Former United midfielder Darren Fletcher has praised Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for his approach to the game against Spurs. United had to rely upon David de Gea’s remarkable saves to keep them ahead in the second half, but has shown that United’s weakness at the back is best defended by going for goal at the other end. You can read about that in the Daily Mail.

The Telegraph report that United are stepping up their interest in recruiting a director of football to the club, and Paul Mitchell of RB Leipzig is in their sights. In anticipation of a move for the scout-with-a-fancy-name, the German club are to offer him an expanded role - head of global football for all the Red Bull clubs. Whether that makes a difference, who knows, don’t ask me, I just blog about football intermittently.

There is praise in the Independent for Jesse Lingard. His myriad talents in attack have brought kind words from some admirers, while his habit of having fun and smiling on social media annoys lots of people. Lingard has done very well to bring improvement to his game over the last couple of years, but he should be one of the first players to leave if United want to challenge for titles.

And on ESPNFC, Solskjaer suggested that it was unlikely that United would be signing Giuseppe Rossi. The former United striker has impressed while training at Carrington after leaving Genoa, but is expected to find another club.