Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won't be resting key Man United stars during Europa League campaign

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has no plans to give his Manchester United stars a rest during the remainder of their Europa League campaign despite having already clinched a Champions League spot for next season.

Solskjaer will field a weakened team for the second leg of the last-16 tie against LASK Linz at Old Trafford on Wednesday with United leading 5-0 from the first leg in Austria in March.

But the Norwegian will revert to a strong line-up for the rest of the knockout stages to be held in Cologne from next week as he tries to land his first trophy as United manager. 

‘The players want to play, they don’t want a break,’ said Solskjaer. ‘They are bothering me all the time. It’s not easy at times to say “you’re rested” to players of that quality

‘We go into the tournament wanting to win and not giving them a break – they will be called upon.

‘The team tomorrow won’t be too different from the last game away in March. It wasn’t a 5-0 difference. We know we have to perform and it’s an opportunity for the players to play in the quarters if we get through.

‘We are four games away from wining a trophy. The team has developed all through the season. We liked finishing third but the next step is getting our hands on a trophy. 

‘We’ve been to two semis this season in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup and we want to go a step further and win something.

‘The first trophy is massive. You can see when Six Alex won the Premier League for the first time that was the start of the Premier League era.

‘I won my first league with Molde and since then they’ve won it four times in eight years.

‘This is a big chance for this team, and if we can win that first trophy it’s a big step forward.’

Solskjaer hopes his players will have the chance to rest before the start of next season if the Premier League go ahead with plans to allow the four English teams still in Europe – United, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Wolves – an extra two weeks off before kicking off the 2020-21 campaign.

‘Hopefully we’ll get some help if we go through to the end and we can start a little bit late,’ he added.

‘I think everyone knows this year has been a special one for the entire world. I will look after the players and give them a couple of weeks off to recharge.

‘These players look after themselves in the break anyway. After the lockdown we’ve been one of the fittest teams.’ 

United and Wolves have discussed flying into their bases for the Europa League knockout stage in Cologne and Dusseldorf respectively, but Solskjaer confirmed that his team is set to stay in Germany rather than travel.

‘There has been a discussion at a higher level than me as to how that tournament will pan out and at the moment it looks like we are staying,’ said Solskjaer. ‘You could look at it as an away game but it looks like we’re staying for the tournament.’

Solskjaer gave nothing away when asked about the progress of negotiations between United and Borussia Dortmund over £108million forward Jadon Sancho.

Sportsmail reported that United and Sancho were on the verge of agreeing personal terms for the Old Trafford club’s No 1 summer transfer target and the deal could even be concluded this week.

Bild report that the terms are for five years and worth £340,000 a week. 

Solskjaer said: ‘This transfer window is a long one and every transfer takes its course. It is what it is.

‘At the moment, I’ve got no updates for you anyway so if there’s any news, we’ll update you.’