Emily Keogh
Manchester United manager Marc Skinner confirmed a handful of injuries ahead of the Champions League qualifier against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday, stressing that the Women’s Super League (WSL) side are still actively searching for forwards in the transfer window.
Skinner confirmed that new signing, former Barcelona wide player Fridolina Rolfö, Leah Galton and Rachel Williams will miss the first leg of the qualifiers, with Grace Clinton — who has been linked with a possible move to Manchester City — though a source told ESPN that it has not progressed beyond interest – also sidelined after picking up a “little niggle.”
“Grace, we’re going to monitor and see how she is. Coming out of the back of the Euros, she has, again, just a little niggle that we’re managing. But apart from that, everybody else is healthy, fit and ready to go. [It’s] pretty good considering we’re probably only three or four weeks into preseason,” he said.
Of the rumours that local rival City are interested in the 21-year-old, Skinner said she is a “a fantastic footballer,” but has “not been told anything of the sorts.”
Rolfö, Williams and Galton are all expected to be out for two to three weeks.
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United have had a quieter transfer window than expected, only bringing in two players, Rolfö and Julia Zigiotti Olme from Bayern Munich. Skinner stressed that the team are still active in the market — a move for Germany’s Giovanna Hoffmann fell through last week — and are eager to bring in two forwards before the window closes on Sept. 4.
“We need to bring forwards in, I think, in this window, potentially two,” Skinner told a news conference on Tuesday.
“I’m probably looking for two players in this window while we’ve got time left. Giovanna [Hoffmann] was one of those players that we looked at. I don’t think right now the valuation, we’re meeting in the middle. Right now that doesn’t look like something that can happen. But again, I must stress we’re looking in those forward areas, so we have an array of options and people we’re looking at.”
Wednesday’s meeting with PSV is United’s second campaign in Europe after failing to make it past Paris Saint-Germain in their debut two seasons ago. If successful, they will face either Hammarby or Metalist Kharkiv before entering into the final round of qualification.
