Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United identified a striker to replace Romelu Lukaku this summer, but 'just didn't get him over the line.'
Lukaku left for Inter Milan for £73million, but United did not sign a replacement and have been left light in the forward areas this season - especially after Alexis Sanchez's loan move and Anthony Martial's injury.
Solskjaer admitted that United are lacking an extra striker in the squad, but insists he made the right decision to let Lukaku leave.
United were in talks with Paulo Dybala of Juventus but could not agree on wage demands or agent fees with the Argentine, while the club decided against moving for fellow Juve striker Mario Mandzukic.
Explaining the decision to let Lukaku leave, Solskjaer said the 'right' replacement was close, but the club were unsure of spending a large amount of money on the mystery player.
“I can say [I am a striker short], but that was the decision that I made and I made it happily," Solskjaer told Sky Sports.
“When you have players, [they may have] great potential, but Romelu’s head was not here for us working forward as a group.
“I don’t want to speak too much about other players. I have got lots of respects for Romelu but his time was up here.
“We are very happy with the recruitment we did. Towards the end the right one we just didn’t get him over the line.
“You’d rather bite the bullet and wait because you don’t want to spend big amounts of money on something that you are not sure of.”
