Solskjaer: Maguire “is taller and bigger than I thought”

Another Premier League season is almost upon us, and do you know what that means? That’s right. Pre-game press conferences are back, baby! Woohoo! Hooray! Let joy be unfounded! Er, unbounded. One of those.

Anyway, let’s gets newsy. Solskjaer spoke to the press this morning and REVEALED the following:

First! Harry Maguire is massive. Like, really big. In fact:

He has come in as a presence. He is taller and bigger than I thought. He has come in as a real plus. He will have an impact on the rest of the boys.

Now, either United’s scouts didn’t tell Solskjaer how big Maguire was, or they did but he doesn’t really understand measurements, or Maguire is some kind of magical creature that extends into the world beyond his mere physical presence. We hope it’s the third; that sounds pretty useful. Anyway, he’s likely to start on Sunday, and can’t you just hear the chuckles after his first error already?

Second! Everybody’s fit except Eric Bailly, who is a long-term concern, and Tim Fosu-Mensah. Paul Pogba is in contention to start, but Alexis Sanchez isn’t; he’s “four or five weeks behind the boys”.

Third! Now that Lukaku’s gone, Mason Greenwood is officially In The First-Team Reckoning. Solskjaer told MUTV:

You do have players that you think are going to make an impact and Mason Greenwood’s pathway would have been a lot more difficult, of course, if we had another forward there. So, for me, I believe that Mason’s going to be playing and involved a lot, and, when he is, he’ll score goals.

All these quotes come from Solskjaer chat with club mouthpiece MUTV, though he seems to have said similar to the press. Also of note, he is apparently not frustrated by the summer. Quite the opposite. “When the transfer window closes it’s a great feeling of relief. Now it’s done, now we know we’re looking forward and I’m delighted with the three we’ve signed.”

Whether you believe is up to you; TBB reckons that privately there might be a little vexation, particularly over the midfield depth. However, it’s a interesting contrast with Jose Mourinho’s style of handling these things. Presumably this positive feeling is meant to make the squad feel good about themselves. It’s a bold strategy. Let’s see if it survives first contact.