Solskjaer rules out King move

Manchester United are unlikely to re-sign Joshua King from Bournemouth before the transfer deadline, according to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe suggested on Friday that King – currently sidelined with a hamstring injury – could join the Red Devils, who were said to be keen on the striker to bolster their attacking options. The Norway international came through the youth ranks at United and made his debut in 2009, but he only made one more senior appearance before leaving for Blackburn Rovers four years later.

Asked about the prospect of signing King on deadline day, Solskjaer said: "I don't think we'll do any more business, no, I don't think so."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joshua King Jr. (@iamjoshuaking) on Dec 31, 2019 at 11:36am PST

The United boss said following a 1-0 EFL Cup semi-final second-leg victory over Manchester City – which was insufficient to book a place in the final as they went down 3-2 on aggregate – that he craved a forward who "wants to break their nose" to score.

"Mason [Greenwood] can break [his] nose as well, there's no worries about that. As I've said, January has always been difficult and it's not just something you do like that," said Solskjaer. "I'm happy with the ones I've got here and of course with Bruno [Fernandes] coming in, that was a big thing for me, that we can play in a different way maybe. And of course with the centre-backs coming back and what we've done lately with three at the back, that might be an option to change tactically a little bit."

Defender Marcos Rojo moved on loan to Estudiantes on Thursday and Solskjaer hopes the temporary switch can help galvanise his ailing United career.

"Marcos is a lovely lad, fantastic. He's got the fire in his belly, he's a winner and he wasn't getting enough football here," said the United boss. "He was in the away end against City and Liverpool, he's such a passionate guy and wants to support his team and come back a fitter and better player, hopefully having played well at Estudiantes and helped Seba [Juan Sebastian Veron] at his club and getting to the Copa America. That was something we just had to do."