MANCHESTER UNITED scrapped their entire transfer policy strategy after being humiliated by bitter rivals Manchester City.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ed Woodward rushed for late-night talks just 24 hours after the club’s derby-day defeat in April.
United followed up their 4-0 thumping at the hands of Everton with a 2-0 loss at the Etihad – having also lost 3-0 to Barcelona in a nightmare spell.
The horror late-season run of form prompted a major overhaul of the club’s recruitment policy.
United are now set to focus on honing young, home-grown talent rather than purely mega-money moves.
The decision was made within the offices of the Aon Training Complex at Carrington, with Woodward, Solskjaer and Mike Phelan thrashing it out.
So far this summer, Solskjaer has brought ex-Swansea speedster Daniel James to the club – in the first of what could be many British buys.
And next on the horizon is Crystal Palace full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka – with the club finally realising top-quality full-backs are vitally important in modern-day football.
However, Solskjaer was dealt a bitter blow as the Eagles stood firm and rejected a second offer of £50million for the 21-year-old England star.
One thing that does seem a little more certain though is the future of Solskjaer.
The Norwegian former United striker, 46, is the fourth permanent boss at Old Trafford in the six years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
After taking over full-time, following a successful spell as interim boss, the club revealed they would allow Solskjaer the chance to have a real impact on the squad.
The former Molde and Cardiff manager will be able to implement his transfer policy this summer and go into the 2019-20 season with a squad he can call his own – rather than the one he inherited from Jose Mourinho.
One big change this summer appears to be the £150m exit of Paul Pogba – who is set to join Real Madrid.
But 73 per cent of over 1,000 fans in our exclusive poll are happy to see the French “distraction” leave.
