Ole Gunnar Solskjaer predicts 'strange transfer window' as clubs wait on fans decision before finalising transfer budgets

Manchester United and other leading clubs will decide on transfer budgets after a decision is made on supporters returning to stadiums.

Premier League representatives were set to discuss getting fans back through the turnstiles when they met the Government on Wednesday via video conference, with some hoping for socially-distanced crowds later this year.

The football authority was one of several bodies from across sport in discussions with the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Wednesday afternoon.

While television provides the bulk of revenue for top-flight clubs, match-day revenue is significant and the lack of it is having a direct effect on clubs’ spending for the next transfer window.

Project Restart has seen matches played behind closed doors and clubs losing out on huge sums of money. Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium, the newest in the Premier League, can earn over £5 million per game.

United can get almost 75,000 paying customers through the gates for their home games and it is understood their budget will be adjusted according to what they can financially expect from 2020/21.

"It's going to be a strange transfer window and I don't expect a lot of big transfers," said United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. "We don't really know how the market is going to be.”

United are long-term admirers of Jadon Sancho but Borussia Dortmund’s £115m valuation for the England forward may see negotiations drawn out. Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish is also also on Solskjaer’s radar.

Richard Masters, the Premier League chairman, has confirmed talks have already started with the Government over getting fans back in their seats, but socially-distanced to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

"The Premier League is back but it won't be fully back until we get those fans back inside the stadium," Masters said. "We're very keen to see fans back in the stadium at the earliest possible juncture when it's safe and appropriate to do so."

Chief executives will also discuss dates for the next transfer window when they meet. They want the market opened the day after the Premier League finishes and kept open until October.

A decision is also expected within the next 24 hours on whether to allow five substitutes per side in the 2020-21 season.

The directors of the International Football Association Board (Ifab), which governs the laws of the game, is meeting on Wednesday via video conference.

The temporary change to Law 3 was proposed by world governing body Fifa and was adopted for the 2019-20 campaign to help teams manage player workload.

The 2020-21 calendar, in Europe at least, promises to be extremely congested at both club and international level.

The Premier League has allowed its clubs to use up to five substitutes per match in the 2019-20 season.

Arsenal were the first English side to use five substitutes in their match against Manchester City on June 17.