Mark Goldbridge: Mason Mount can challenge Bruno Fernandes for starting job, 'Ole Gunner Solskjaer back' calls are nonsense and Jadon Sancho is a certified Manchester United flop

In an exclusive column for talkSPORT.com, Mark Goldbridge gives his verdict on the latest Manchester United news.

bricklayer assembly is about to get back into shapebut does the £55m signing have a place in Erik ten HagThe escuadron? Plus, the YouTube presenter responds to the 'Solskjaer back' brigade and where Jadon Sancho ranks among the club's all-time failures.

mountain to climb

So far it's been a loss for Mason Mount in manchester united. It's very, very frustrating.

We have seen it with Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia in Chelsea and when Jurrien Timber in Arsenal – When you sign a player and then he basically misses most of his first season, it's tremendously frustrating and it's easy to get frustrated with the player, the club or the coach, but it's an injury.

Putting that aside and going back to when we bought Mount, I have to admit I was confused. Where does it fit?

I really liked Mason Mount at Chelsea, when he was good, and he was 24 at the time, so he was a good signing, but I wasn't sure where he was going to play.

I figured I was going to play where Christian Eriksen did with casemiro and bruno Fernandes, but it has been proven that this does not work. You get outplayed, you need more defensive cover and this season we have also seen the development of Mainoo.

So where does Mount fit in when he returns?…

looked at Martin Odegaard at Arsenal and is a magnetic number 10, because of the way he looks and protects the ball. I think Manchester United desperately need a player like that, but what are you doing with him? Bruno Fernandez?

Ideally, Mount plays as a number 10 and we have a bit more control of the pitch, but there is a big problem with Bruno Fernandes because that is Bruno's position and he is the captain, and I don't really want Bruno on the right. wing because that's just putting a square peg in a round hole.

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I think Mount's best position is ahead of Mainoo and Casemiro, but what do you do with Bruno?

So I don't really have the answer, but he can't play in a midfield three with Bruno and Casemiro, I think that would be a huge imbalance.

But we need him back, we need competition for places, so why shouldn't Bruno be taken out of the team? He's been out all season..

Ole back? you're laughing

I thought it was brilliant interview with Solskjaer in The Overlap because I think it sums up his strengths and weaknesses, like this blind loyalty to players who weren't good enough.

When Roy Keane I smelled Ole's drink after his Fred comments – True, he spoke glowingly of players like Fred, when in the end they were not good enough to lead Man United to titles, which exposes Solskjaer's naivety as a coach.

I don't think he's a very good manager to be honest, but what a guy and he's a legend of the club and he shows himself like we've always known him.

There was a huge sense of guilt in the fanbase as they turned on Ole and told him he had to go because they loved him so much, but you have to be cruel to be kind. He wasn't good enough.

There were other interesting things too, he talked about players not getting up, stopping using tools, not wanting the captaincy, I think that was really interesting, especially when that is clearly a problem at United now.

The inconsistency, I think, comes from the lack of mentality in the locker room of some players… and there has been all kinds of speculation about who those players are.

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But the signing thing was brilliant, because when you have coaches like Jose Mourinho and now Erik ten Hag, who has struggled with that and you have Solskjaer came out and said: 'I wanted Judas Bellingham and I wanted Erling Haaland“I told them about these players and they didn't do it,” that's ridiculous.

I think Solskjaer said two or three times, even before he came to the club as manager, 'Go and buy Haaland', then he comes to the club and says Haaland has a release clause and United are still ignoring him, and now Haaland He is doing what he is doing… for Manchester City!

There would still be some United fans, especially with the Ten Hag debate, who would say: “Bring Ole back”, which is just incredible. It is complete and utter nonsense and it is red-tinted glasses that ignore the past.

I think the interview is purely about looking good so he can get a job somewhere else, but as a United fan I'm very happy because it also exposes the huge problems at the club.

We've got another manager under fire and Solskjaer comes out and tells the problems he had there and, knowing they're still there, highlights to United fans the enormity of the job and the enormous amount of problems that have happened. Over the last few years behind the scenes, that makes running that club really difficult, no matter how good you are.

The best of failures?

Believe Jadon Sancho has to go down as a failureand that's always a hard word to use, but he does it.

This is a player we spent two summers trying to sign. He was very excited about it, a fantastic CV at Dortmund, but to be honest, he completely and utterly failed in the Premier League.

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There have been flashes, but that's not enough, especially when you look at what the players like. Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka You are doing.

He had the opportunity to come to the Premier League for a big transfer and salary and at a big club, and he failed.

There has been a lot of talk about blaming Ten Hag, well he wasn't there when Sancho signed, he was with Solskjaer for a year.

In the first three months of Ten Hag's reign, the trainer let him go away and deal with the problems he had. I think Manchester United have looked after him well.

he is just another Memphis Depay, Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez and all the other Man United players who have failed. He is not in an exclusive club, there are many players who fail in all types of clubs.

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I think Jadon Sancho just needs to look in the mirror, see why he failed and try to rescue his career, because he is a really talented player.

But not at Manchester United. I think the bridges are burned. We need players to take responsibility and I don't think Sancho has done that.

So I wish him all the best, but he needs to leave and move on.