Solskjaer dismisses Kane links as Van der Sar distances himself from Man United role

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hailed Manchester United’s striking options following Roy Keane’s suggestion the club should sign Harry Kane, while former team-mate Edwin van der Sar has distanced himself from the vacant director of football role.

Following United’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Sunday, ex-captain Keane – working as a pundit for Sky Sports – stated United should purchase England forward Kane from Tottenham to solve their issues up front.

Marcus Rashford scored in the stalemate at Old Trafford, taking his tally of league goals for the season to four, but Solskjaer’s options up front have been diminished by Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez leaving for Inter, while Anthony Martial is only just returning from injury.

Solskjaer insists he is satisfied with his current pool of strikers, although acknowledged having a player of Kane’s quality would always be a bonus.

“Roy’s quite straightforward, isn’t he,” Solskjaer told a news conference when asked about his former team-mate’s comments ahead of United’s Europa League meeting with Partizan Belgrade.

“For us it’s [about] working hard. Getting Anthony back is going to be a massive boost for us and I’m sure, when he comes back, that’ll help Marcus as well. 

“With the forwards we’ve got and the pace, I’m looking forward to the next few weeks.

“There aren’t many [Robert] Lewandowskis and Harry Kanes – they’re like [Alan] Shearer, [Ruud] Van Nistelrooy, fantastic players.

“Ours are different types of players but I like someone who can finish half a chance and Harry does that, but Harry’s a Tottenham player.”

16 – Harry Kane has scored 16 goals in the group stages of the Champions League; only Paul Scholes (19) has more amongst English players. Sweet.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 22, 2019

With United’s transfer dealings having come under scrutiny in previous seasons, the club are reportedly still in search of a director of football.

One name consistently linked with taking up the position has been former United goalkeeper Van der Sar, who has enjoyed success as Ajax’s chief executive officer. 

However, Van der Sar says he is not considering leaving the Eredivisie champions at the moment, telling BT Sport: “I’ve said before, I want to make this a success at Ajax.

“As a player, you always needed to build up qualities and your strengths. Now I’m trying it out and experiencing a lot of different things here, I’ve still some unfinished business here.

“If we could have taken it one step further last year [getting to the Champions League final], it could have been a step already, but at the moment I’m concentrating on Ajax.”