Giving up on title race is not in Man Utd’s DNA, says Solskjaer

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says giving up on the Premier League title is “not in our DNA” even though their pursuit of runaway leaders Manchester City appears hopeless.

United head into Sunday’s home game against struggling Burnley second in the table, 11 points behind City but with a game in hand.

The Norwegian believes his side are on the right track but admits adding to their 20 league titles is unlikely.

“Of course we’ll never give up,” Solskjaer said after his side wrapped up a 4-0 aggregate victory against Granada in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday, setting up a last-four clash with Roma.

“Man United will never, ever give up. This club has had too many setbacks and too many great comebacks to have that in our DNA. (Giving up) is not in our DNA.

“But if it’s realistic? No, probably not because when you’ve had a team so consistent as Man City have been, you don’t expect them to lose three games out of the last six.”

United are on course to finish in the top four in back-to-back seasons for the time since Alex Ferguson retired as a champion in 2013.

They are also desperate to claim their first silverware since winning the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017.

“Of course, third last year, second this year if that’s what we manage and close to a trophy, it’s progress,” said Solskjaer. “That’s not the end game.

“The end game is, of course, winning the league. But we’re not in the era of Sir Alex now.

“We’ve had a transformation period since he left, which always would happen because there’s no one better. There never will be.”