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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Casey Evans

Sir Alex Ferguson scouts another 'Ronnie' as past Manchester United pursuit of Timo Werner emerges

Welcome to the Manchester Evening News United On My Mind daily news round-up.

Here are some of the Manchester United stories you may have missed from the past 24 hours, featuring reaction to United's 1-0 loss at home to Aston Villa and Sir Alex Ferguson recommending his former club sign another Ronnie.

Shearer reacts to Solskjaer's offside claims

United fell to a 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon as Kortney Hause's 88th-minute header handed Dean Smith's side the three points.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claimed after the game that the winning goal should have been ruled out for offside as Villa forward Ollie Watkins was interfering with play.

The United boss said in an interview with the BBC : "You can take it when it's a good goal against you, but that's offside. Watkins touched David [de Gea] as Hause heads the ball."

Last weekend, Leicester City were denied two goals against Brighton after Harvey Barnes was twice adjudged to be obstructing the goalkeeper - incidents which were very similar to the one at Old Trafford that was adjudged to be onside .

During Match of the Day , Premier League legend Alan Shearer seemingly agreed with Solskjaer's comments, saying; "How that's a goal and Leicester have not got their goals?

"I don't think it should be called offside but there is an argument from what happened at Leicester last week. The difference being the assistant flagged last week but didn't flag this week. We just want consistency."

United had a chance to equalise late on when Hause handballed in the area, only for Bruno Fernandes to miss the resulting penalty.

Ferguson recommends 'wonderkid'

Sir Alex Ferguson's influence at United is still felt to this day, with the Scotsman proving crucial in paving the way for Cristiano Ronaldo's return to the club, and the Daily Express report that Ferguson has now suggested the club sign another Ronnie.

While watching his son Darren Ferguson's Peterborough United, he was impressed by 18-year-old Ronnie Edwards and has urged John Murtough to sign the youngster.

Tottenham and Brentford are reportedly already interested in the defender, but Ferguson is hoping his connections at Peterborough will give United the edge.

However, it seems Barry Fry may take some convincing to be parted with his prized asset after he told the Peterborough Telegraph : "Ronnie is a Rolls Royce. I used to watch a lot of U18s football at Barnet as well as Posh and I told the gaffer about him. And when we brought him in for a game, Darren watched him for 20 minutes and told me to sign him.

“[He] is money in the bank for the club. He’s a certainty to have an outstanding career in the game, but there’s no better place and no better manager than Darren Ferguson, to help him develop quickly.

"A couple of good seasons in the Championship would make him worth £10 million or £20 million."

Maybe one to put on the back-burner for now, but Solskjaer will no doubt keep a keen eye on his progress.

Werner was 'interested' in United move

Since his move to Chelsea, Timo Werner has struggled to adapt to life in England, with his lack of form prompting Chelsea to re-sign Romelu Lukaku.

However, according to reports in German outlets BILD and Der Spiegel, United were interested in signing Werner before he went to Chelsea.

Considering his record in the Premier League so far, it's safe to say United will be glad they were unable to secure a deal for the German forward.

Do you agree with Alan Shearer's comments? Follow our new United On My Mind writer Casey Evans on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and put your thoughts in the comment section below.

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