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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reportedly faces a fight to lift his squad for Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Atalanta following events over the weekend.

Morale is said to have taken a big hit, with the dressing room described as ‘flat’ following Saturday’s woeful 4-2 loss at Leicester, as reported by ESPN sources. The result means the Red Devils have won just two of their last seven games in all competitions.

ESPN adds that manner of the defeat has ’caused concern within the group’, with Solskjaer admitting afterwards that David de Gea had been United’s best performer despite leaking four goals.

The United boss’ position is not thought to be under threat. However, there are alarm bells going off after recent results.

Solskjaer is said to have been fuming with his side’s second-half display the King Power. Indeed, he kept his players in the dressing room for 45 minutes, as he read them the riot act before attending to his media duties.

The delay meant the team were late heading back to Manchester, as they prepare for the Atalanta clash. Indeed, Wednesday night’s game is the start of a tough run of fixtures for United.

After tackling the Serie A outfit they then have Premier League clashes with Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City.

Defeat to Brendan Rodgers’ men left United eighth in the table and they have not won in the league for a month.

There is some good news for United, however, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka cleared to face Atalanta.

UEFA have upheld an appeal from the Red Devils to cut the defender’s suspension from two games to one. Wan-Bissaka sat out the 2-1 win over Villarreal following his red card against Young Boys in the opening group game.

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Man Utd watching Barca star closely

Meanwhile, Ansu Fati’s contract talks with Barcelona are understood to be at an impasse with Manchester United undoubtedly watching closely.

Fati’s contract at the Camp Nou expires at the end of the season and extension talks have been far from straight forward.

Fati was in scintillating form on Sunday as he started his first game since November 2020. He scored and won a penalty to inspire Barca to a much-needed 3-1 home win over Valencia.

Barca are keen to tie down Fati, as they did with Pedri last week.

Fati’s agent Jorge Mendes has been in talks with the Catalan giants over a new deal for his client.

But, according to Catalan outlet El Nacional, the length of the contract on offer is where the problem lies.

Mendes has asked for a two-year extension initially due to the club’s financial problems. He then plans to sit down with Barcelona again before 2024 to negotiate a more lucrative deal for his client.

Barca though want sign Fati to a long-term extension with bonuses and an increase in the base salary after each season. The club also reportedly included a €1bn release clause (£840m), as they did with Pedri’s deal.

Mendes leaves United hanging

Mendes apparently has no intention of signing off on that and the agent has put the talks on hold.

Manchester United have been linked with Fati previously. According to Marca, in September 2020 Barca received a €150m offer for the player. The Catalan side rebuffed that and made it clear they wanted the talented attacker to stay.

However, Fati’s agent, Mendes is also the agent of Cristiano Ronaldo and the club asked about the young attacker when they got a deal done for Ronaldo in the summer.

Mundo Deportivo report that United enquired about the availability of the winger, having held an interest in the player in the past.

The discussions have been labelled as “something normal” given Fati’s contractual situation.

United though will no doubt be watching intently, as Barca try and get the player tied down.

READ MORE: Man Utd handed grim Sir Alex claim about current squad that makes for bad Solskjaer reading

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