Transcript of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer press conference before Man Utd v LASK

Q: Jesse, we could see what that goal meant to you against Leicester City and what it meant to everyone at Manchester United. Firstly, your thoughts on that and the future, and Ole your thoughts on Jesse and where the future lies for him…

JL: “I know I’ve not had the best of seasons and obviously during lockdown I wanted to come back in the best shape possible to impress the manager. That hard work can pay off by pressing in the last minutes and winning it off the keeper and sticking it in the back of the net. Of course, a goal gives you confidence and I’m looking forward to the next game. I can’t wait to play the next game and to try and impress.”

OGS: “You hit the nail on the head when you said how much it meant to everyone because Jesse is such an infectious lad in and about the group. He’s always in a good mood and is even hiding his own troubles. We know how much it meant to him but it also meant a lot to us because we see him every day when he’s been here and been part of this club. He’s been here for his whole life. It was a great finish to the Premier League, but now it’s about kicking on and I’m sure we’re going to see a better side of Jesse and the best side of Jesse because we’ve seen that in training all the time.”

Q: I was just wondering whether, following that Leicester victory and now that United have got their place in the Champions League next season, whether you considered giving a complete break to the likes of David, Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes? Jesse, for you, I wonder in terms of your own career at Man United, how much you’ve seen this game tomorrow night and hopefully getting into the knockout stages in Germany, do you see it as a way of forcing your way into the starting XI for next season?

JL: “Every minute – be it five, 10 or half an hour – I’ve got to try and impress and to try and do as much as I can to try and help the team and impress the manager. It’s a perfect way now with four games left, hopefully going into the last game with confidence and getting a run in the tournament. But, the most important thing is the team to lift silverware.”

OGS: “And that’s our focus. Of course, the players want to play, they don’t want the break. When they’re in and around the place they want to play. They’re bothering me all the time with ‘I want to play, I don’t want a rest’. It’s not easy to say at times ‘no you’re resting’ to players of this quality. But we go into that tournament wanting to win. I hope the players need to win like I do. I think for me, as a manager or a coach, to lift a trophy is a different feeling from when you are a player because you know you represent so much more than just the team. For me, we go into this tournament with players wanting to win. I’m not giving them a break, no. They’ll be called upon.”

Q: Ole, I just wanted to ask about the match tomorrow. I’m guessing Jesse starts but are there any other clues with the likes of Teden Mengi and Ethan Laird in the squad. Also, Axel and Luke Shaw aren’t in the squad for the whole Europa League campaign. Are you able to tell us about the nature of their injuries and when you expect them back?

OGS: “Axel started to get niggles when we restarted and he had to have an operation in his foot, so he’ll be back early Septemberish. Same with Luke, he sustained the injury against… I think it was Southampton. He’ll be ready again in early September. They should both be ready for when the league starts. Apart from that… yeah, Jesse will be starting tomorrow, but the team won’t be too different from the last time we played LASK in March. We know that it’s going to be a difficult game. It wasn’t a 5-0 difference in the first game. We were winning about 2-0 after 60 minutes and then we scored three goals in the last five. Of course we know that we have to perform and there is an opportunity for players to stake a claim to play in the quarters, if we get through.”

Q: Ole, without pre-empting too much, but obviously, given the first-leg score, you must be quite confident of going through. I’d seen that Wolves had asked UEFA for permission to fly in and out rather than stay for the entire duration. Have you asked for that as well?

OGS: “There’s been a discussion at a higher level than me as to how that tournament is going to pan out. At the moment it looks like we’re staying. Of course, you could look at it as one game and then you travel to an away game but at the moment it looks like a tournament so we’ll be staying in Germany.”