United v Wolves: Ole's press conference in full

The manager sat down with the media in the Jimmy Murphy Centre to preview our Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend.

However, as you can read in the full transcript below, that game was barely mentioned as reporters quizzed the boss on other topics…

Hi, Ole. Congratulations on your new signing. Will he be OK and ready maybe to play against Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend?
“He's fit enough to play and he'll be involved definitely. He'll be in the squad. Let's get the training out of the way today. He's had of course a few hectic days now and even with his little daughter's three-year birthday yesterday, so I don't know how much he will be involved, but he's in the squad.”

If he plays, David De Gea will make his 300th Premier League appearance, which is some landmark, isn't it? You've played with and against some decent goalkeepers - where does he rank?
“Oh he ranks at the top. He's been unbelievable for this club and 300 games, I don't know how many goals or clean sheets he's had, but you can just see on Wednesday night what he means for us. He's such a presence at the back there, he gives confidence to everyone and he's a top human being as well.”

You said in the statement that you'd been looking at Bruno Fernandes for a while. Why didn't a deal go through then and what will he bring to your team?
“You know, it's about timings, priorities and also valuation, money and you have a club that owns him and you can see now in January how much he means to them and they wanted to keep him. So for us we're just happy to finally get it over the line. It's a player that we've said months, but we've followed him for years, but he's grown gradually in that period as well. More and more mature, more and more assured performances, he's a great leader of his team and even with all the speculation that's been around him. Probably every club in Europe has been linked with him and he's stayed focused and played some fantastic football for Sporting. It tells you everything about how professional he is and when you get to see him and meet him here, he's a fantastic human being.”

Eddie Howe has just done his press conference and spoken about United being interested in Josh King. Obviously he is a player that you know well. Clearly there's not a lot of time for a deal to be done. Are you optimistic that can get over the line?
“I don't think we'll do any more business, no. I don't think so.”

You did say the other night Ole that a striker, you want to bring somebody in, someone who can break their nose, break their toe and get in there. Why can you not get one over the line?
“Anthony and Mason can break their nose as well. There's no worries about that, so as I've said January has always been difficult and it's not just something that you do like that.”

With Fernandes, he's obviously a player that's got a little bit of fire in the belly. You've just spoken there about him being a leader as well. How important are those two things? 
“That's one of the boxes that we had to tick, because we want players who this means a lot to and as you say he's a winner. He hates losing. I've seen him myself, but he uses that anger in a good way to play better and help his team-mates and he was a fantastic captain for Sporting and he's going to come here and be a leader as well. I've spoken to him about it, just be yourself. A great human being, smiley, but you can still hate losing even if you're a good lad.”

If you don't sign a striker, I'm sure the club will be working until the end of the window, but is that not going to be a real blow to your chances for the rest of the season?
“Well I'm happy with the ones I've got here and of course with Bruno coming in that was a big thing for me towards the end here now, 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 tactically change a little bit.”

What are you expecting from Wolves? And there's been some talk of a protest tomorrow, so I just wonder what your thoughts were?
“Well, Wolverhampton and us I think we know each other really well. It's the sixth time since March that we've played against them, the fourth time this season, so I don't think there'll be too many surprises from either coach or there might be, you never know. And for me the fans have been backing us and I'm sure they'll back the team again and they're important for us and this is an important game for us.”

Ole, just on Marcos Rojo. You obviously let him leave. Is that something that can be beneficial for him but also in the long run beneficial for Manchester United too?
“Marcos is a lovely lad, he's got the fire in his belly, he's a winner and he wasn't getting enough football here. It was important for him to start playing. He was in the away end against City, he was there at Liverpool, he's such a passionate guy and he wants to support this team. He wants to come back a fitter and better player, hopefully having played well for Estudiantes and helped Seba [Veron] and his club and gone to the Copa America. So that was something we just had to do.”

And in terms of young players, James Garner has been linked with a loan. Is anyone going out on loan or are you going to keep everyone in? 
“James is going to stay here. We're going to give him a chance here to keep improving. He's had a bit of a difficult time lately, but he'll be fine.”

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