Man Utd boss Solskjaer fires back at Monchi for criticising director of football vacancy

Manchester United head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hit back at Sevilla director of football Monchi, who said last month that he couldn't understand why the Red Devils did not have a director of football of their own.

The Red Devils have faced criticism over their transfer strategy in recent seasons, with this summer's pursuit of Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho coming up short.

After missing out on Sancho, United scrambled to make signings on deadline day and landed Edinson Cavani, Alex Telles and 18-year-olds Amad Diallo and Facundo Pellistri.

In the days leading up to the closing of the transfer window Monchi hit out at United, saying he couldn't fathom why they continued to go without a director of football.

"I do understand there are very successful clubs – Manchester United are probably one of the top five in the world, but they do not have that specific position – but I think that clubs more and more are aware that they really need this position and also we are the connection between the technical staff, the squad, the board, we know the ­market, we get lots of information through the different scouts," Monchi told The Telegraph.

"So, for me, I can’t believe a club does not have this particular position. Logically, I have to believe in it because that’s what I do. But I do think it’s essential."

Solskjaer has now fired back at Monchi, saying he is not interested in hearing outside criticism of his club's policies.

“There’s always people who want to talk about how well they’re running things and how well they’re doing," Solskjaer said. “We’ve all got different views on how football should be played and how clubs should be run.

“We’ve got good people running our club and there’s always discussions behind the scenes, which people don’t know about, around how we’re doing things and evaluating everything."

The Norwegian added that although United are looking at potentially adding a director of football, he is not in a position to say whether it should happen.

“It’s a process the club is going through all the time, discussing if we’ve got the right people in the right positions," Solskjaer said.

“It’s not for me to say whether we should have a director of football.

“At the moment we’re working with this structure and I feel the results last season we’ve seen a big improvement, fans looked at us and said we’re moving in the right direction. Hopefully we can carry that on this season.”