Ole Gunnar Solskjaer employs personal scout to help find Manchester United transfer targets
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has appointed a personal scout to help him identity transfer targets.
Solskjaer is already looking ahead to the January transfer window as he continues to rebuild the United squad.
The Norwegian prioritised younger British players in this summer’s market, signing Harry Maguire from Leicester, Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace and Daniel James from Swansea.
And according to The Sun, Solskjaer has asked Simon Wells, a member of United’s recruitment team, to report to him directly as he seeks to upgrade key areas of his side when the window reopens.
The club’s hierarchy have approved the move as they continue the search for a director of football, which has been ongoing for around a year.
Solskjaer and Wells initially struck up a relationship when the former was in charge of Norwegian outfit Molde and the former was scouting Scandinavia for United.
Wells was involved in the acquisition of Sweden international Victor Lindelof from Benfica in summer 2017.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
United employ 58 scouts who are scouring the globe for talent, with chief scout Jim Lawlor and head of global recruitment Marcel Bout two of the most important figures.
And Wells is set to become even more significant after Solskjaer requested reports about various players ahead of the January transfer window.
Meanwhile, United are still exploring different ways of restructuring the club despite having failed to appoint a director of football.
The Red Devils were expected to install an individual to work above the manager this summer, but they were unable to find a suitable candidate.
However, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward insisted the club’s work in the summer transfer market showed that their current approach is the “right one”.
United will be looking to close the 13-point gap separating them from Premier League leaders Liverpool when they host Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday night.
READ MORE
5 things we’ve learned from Manchester United’s 2019 financial figures
Ranked! The 101 best players in the Premier League right now: full list revealed
Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).