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Mason Greenwood (Getty Images)
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has backed Gareth Southgate’s decision to leave teenage forward Mason Greenwood out of the England team for upcoming international matches.
Manchester City’s Greenwood and Phil Foden were excluded from the Southgate squad on Thursday after being sent home from Iceland last month for a violation of coronavirus rules.
Ignoring pandemic protocols, Greenwood, 19, and Foden, 20, invited local women to return to the England team hotel.
“Mason is one of the best forwards of the future for England and he will surely play a lot of games for England,” Solskjaer told reporters on Friday.
“Obviously this has been a learning curve for him.
“Mason has to think about where he is and what he needs to do, how to get where he wants to go.”
Amid criticism from frustrated fans, United remain linked to several players in the final days of the transfer window, notably Borussia Dortmund’s English international striker Jadon Sancho.
But Solskjaer refused to be persuaded as to why the club has so far failed to achieve more of its main goals, with Donny van de Beek being the only one who has made it so far.
“I’m not going to go into the transfer window now because of course my focus is on Sunday’s game (against Tottenham), but the club is always working hard to have the strongest team possible,” he said.
“If something happens inside or outside, you will know.
“We have players here that we believe in. The transfer window is still open for a while and the club has been working. They know my point of view and we are here to strengthen ourselves in the long term.”
Solskjaer and Tottenham manager José Mourinho, the Norwegian’s immediate predecessor at Old Trafford, have traded criticism in the run-up to this weekend’s Premier League clash in Manchester.
Mourinho pointed to the number of penalties United have been awarded and Solskjaer spoke about Spurs’ farewell in the League Cup due to a series of coronavirus cases in their opponents, League Two club Leyton Orient.
“We’re in weird times right now and sometimes you have to have a little fun,” Solskjaer said. “These are just a couple of innocent comments.
“For me, José is a very charismatic coach. You in the media enjoy talking to him and I enjoy watching him. He is a winner.
“I’m not one to really get into all the mind games. I have the utmost respect for him as a coach and of course the results and everything he has given to football.
