After a great start to the season, what’s the team news?

OGS: Of course, as you say, a great start. First game of the season when you get off to a good start with the fans, it changes the mood, or it sets the mood. Our job now is to capitalise on it, get more energy, don’t get complacent. With regard to team news, that’s a boost as well, Edinson’s joined in, Raphael’s joining in – so we’re getting fitter and fitter.

Will there be starts for both or either of Sancho and Varane?

OGS: You’ll see on Sunday. They’ve worked well anyway. They’ve had minutes. We’ve had a very good week ourselves. We’ll see who’s making the flight down to Southampton on Saturday.

How much of an impact will Jesse have on the squad this season?

OGS: I think Jesse’s first priority is to get into our team. I think whenever your employer is Man United, I think that’s your first priority; it always is. I think we, together, can have great moments. Of course, as a manager with players and a squad like I’ve got now, it’s difficult. It’s difficult to say that, ‘this weekend you’re not playing’, because I have got to leave players out, never mind from the starting XI, even from the squad. But they’ll all have to remember and know that they’re going to have to play a part if we’re going to be successful. Jesse is back to his fitness, he’s played really well in the behind-closed-doors game on Tuesday and he’s come back bubbly and in good shape. He’s got a big part to play.

What is the latest surrounding Paul Pogba?

OGS: That’s negotiations with Paul’s representatives and the club. For me, me and Paul work together every day here and we keep trying to improve, to improve the team and to enjoy ourselves. When you win games, you enjoy yourself more. We’ve just got to make sure this isn’t just one game and everyone flies off on all these… you know, we get these big headlines and praise we get. It’s about bringing more energy into the next one and being even better. One swallow never makes a summer.

Will Amad and Garner or anybody else head out on loan?

OGS: I would definitely think Jimmy will go on loan. That’s more or less done. He’s done really well in pre-season, and he’s really impressed me, and I think for his career, another season, or another six months now to start with, playing regularly in the Championship will help him. With Amad, I have to say he’s doing really, really well in training. He’s come back a little bit later after the Olympics, we needed some time to get him back in and now he’s looking really good. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed as well. It has to be the right loan, right move, right club, right way of playing for any of our youngsters, really, that want to go.

What are you expecting from Southampton? What are you expectations of the game?

OGS: You know that game [9-0] was a one off. That’s a special game when you get a lad sent off in the first minute, so I don’t count that game at all. Always with Ralph’s teams you get high energy, high pressing, belief in themselves. And they give you a great challenge, like they did last season we were lucky to – well, not lucky, maybe lucky, maybe good – when we turned their two-goal lead into a 3-2 win for us with Edinson’s substitute appearance. We know every time we travel down there it’s a very, very difficult game.

Is it mandatory for all your players to be double-jabbed, and are they all double-jabbed?

OGS: They’re not all double-jabbed, no. I am – put it that way – and I encourage the lads to take the vaccinations, but we can’t force anyone to do that, no.

Have some refused?

OGS: To my understanding, we’re still wanting everyone to be doubled-jabbed and it’s up to them. It’s still possible to take them.

Why did you want to sign Raphael Varane? What did you see in him? How has he been settling in in training?

OGS: I think if you follow football in the last 10 years… that’s the reason we want to sign him, what he’s done over his career. It’s no secret that we were close – or we were in there – when he left to Real Madrid 10 years ago. Sir Alex was in there speaking to them and we were close. Ever since his performances on the pitch, his demeanour and behaviour off the pitch, it tells me that that’s a Man United player. And we managed to convince him to have the feeling of Man United. I think that’s been in his heart ever since he went to Real Madrid as well. I think he had a little bit of a feeling for Man United. And we definitely have had feelings for him for many, many years. The Champions League wins he’s had, the World Cup wins… everything about him is class. He’s a defender who is quick, strong, good in the air, he can play with both feet. The short answer is everything about him is what you want. He’s been humble, he’s been inquisitive. He asks questions. He doesn’t want to learn by a mistake in the game, he wants to learn it on the training field before he comes on the pitch. Everything about him has been impressive.

Great performance last week. Your away performances last season were absolutely fantastic, and you picked up a lot of points. There’s going to be crowds when you play away this season. How are you going to approach that and will it be different?

OGS: Yeh, definitely, it’ll be a big difference. I don’t know how many points but we won so many points from going one goal down but you can’t afford to do that with fans in the stadium when you’re away from home. Because the fans mean so much in the energy levels, that little bit of extra edge, maybe some nerves if you’re the away team. So, we have to start better, that’s a definite. We have to, of course, manage the game so that the away fans are the ones that are heard. We’ve got the best away fans in the world but we can only hear them if we play well and we start well. You want to silence the home crowd. I know that’s not going to happen when it’s the first game at St. Mary’s for 18 months, so that’s not going to happen, it’s going be loud, but it’s up to us to play the football to do that as well.

On Edinson Cavani’s fitness, how’s he doing and how important was it to let him have a little bit of extra time at home this summer?

OGS: Edinson’s always looked after himself. Of course, he’s lacking in team training, in football training but he’s been looking after himself and you can see that. There were different reasons as to why he was late, there were some personal reasons, but his body can tolerate a lot. It wasn’t that he needed those extra days physically, it was a different matter. He’s chomping at the bit, he’s ready to go and let’s see how much we can get out of him early on.

Can I ask you how Dean Henderson is doing, how alarming was it for you that a young athlete in such good shape as him would still suffer the effects of COVID-19 quite a bit after contracting it?

OGS: The whole situation around COVID is still unknown and it’s new for everyone and that’s the scary bit. We don’t really know the effects on you. You hear people have it, less fit people than footballers have it, and have no symptoms and then you have fit footballers, and you get after effects and prolonged side effects and tiredness. So it’s a scary virus, so we need to really be careful. With regards to Dean, he was tired after trainings. He felt that. We needed to check him up. Now he feels much better. He’s passed all the tests that we’ve gone through with him. He’s training and building himself up again because he’s lost a few weeks. He’s working hard in the gym, working out on the grass. He’s not with full team training yet but it won’t be too long.

Last week Jadon Sancho got a bit of stick because of England and the penalty miss. I wonder how you think he’ll cope with that if it becomes a recurring theme? You were here when David Beckham came back and got a lot of stick but he dealt with it well and it didn’t have an impact on his career. I wonder if there’s anything you’ve learnt from that which you could pass on to Jadon?

OGS: I don’t expect that to happen with too many fans. More of them are more respectful and support their country more. With regards to how we handle it, no problem. Jadon and Marcus are both strong characters so it won’t be an issue. We, as a club, know sometimes you have to be strong and the way the manager dealt with Becks was right. We’ll protect them, I’ll protect them and it’s absolutely no issue. You see some other clubs fans show support to the players who have been brave enough to step up for their country. The good old Theodore Roosevelt, the man in the arena, that goes really well. It resonates for me in this situation.

Can you remember how Beckham coped with it?

OGS: When you go away, say Cristiano and Becks, when the away fans boo you it’s not just because you’ve done something wrong but because they’re afraid of you. Becks dealt with it in his own way, ‘I’ll show you, I’m a strong character, I’ll prove how good I am.’ And that is the trait of a Man United player, to go through difficult times, but still knowing your teammates have got your back.

Mason Greenwood had a blistering start to the season. Do you think missing the Euros did him some good to hit the ground running? No player likes to be seen as unpatriotic, but do you have an arrangement with Gareth Southgate to keep him out of internationals for the next few months so he can go to the World Cup in peak form?

OGS: Unpatriotic? The boy has had problems, he’s had injuries and done really well getting through and working hard to get fit. Mason would have loved nothing more than to play at the Euros. He loves playing football, for his country and for Man United, but you’re a young boy sometimes all the training and games takes its toll. But he’s going to have a long career, both for club and country.

Jurgen Klopp said last week that he knew how City and Chelsea were able to spend so much on transfers with their owners but didn’t know how United had raised the funds. What are your thoughts on that? And do you feel a bit like Sir Alex now, where opposition managers are worried about what you’re doing?

OGS: We’re a well run club. We do have a lot of fans out there, good sponsorship deals. How we get the money, as a manager, you want more and more. But I’ve got ‘no’ a few times. It’s how we run the club and how other clubs run their business models. I’ve started driving electric cars, that’s all I want to say on that.

Do you expect to have Paul after the transfer window closes? And one thing that seems to be overlooked is the quality of the squad. You’ve got a squad where any player in the world would look at Manchester United as a squad to challenge big trophies. Will that help to keep Paul?

OGS: I could write a book about this topic. I’m very happy with the squad and the signings we’ve made. As a footballer, when you look around and you see good footballers next to you that puts another layer of responsibility on yourself. You have to play well to be in the team and to be successful in this team. Sometimes you have to accept being on the bench. We need a strong squad, a big squad, to win trophies. Paul is enjoying his football and my job is to make sure we get the best out of him, and all the other individuals. I knew the headlines were going to be about Paul and Bruno with four assists and three goals, but it’s all the other boys as well, the balance in the team. For me, to make players want to stay at Man United, when you can see a good squad and getting results, that helps. We want to win things. There was no better place to be when I was a player because we kept on winning. I want to take this team to the next level and start winning trophies. They requires consistency. We cut the deficit to the winning team to quite a few points but we need to take the step to the next level.

Do you expect Paul to be here when the transfer window closes?

OGS: Yep. I expect him to be here on September 1st.

If there is no resolution on his contract extension, would you have any worries about him being unfocussed? Are you confident he will still continue to play at this level until the end of the season?

OGS: That’s the challenge that we have for everyone. We play to high standards every weekend, whether you’ve got a five year or one year contract. When you sign for Man United you have to rise to the challenge on playing well consistently. I’m not worried about the length of any player’s contract changing the level of motivation. You want to play well for yourself, your team mates, your family. We can’t expect Bruno to score a hattrick every game, we’re not going to score five goals every game, that’s now how the world works. What I expect is that the attitude and approach to every game is the right one. We have the right focus and professionalism. With that, I have no worries about Paul whatsoever.

A lot of the players you’ve signed recently have won a lot of trophies previously. Is that something you’ve looked at to sign players who have experience of winning trophies?

OGS: You look at quality and personality, and if they also have the experience of winning, they bring that winning feeling to the club, that’s brilliant. Bruno hasn’t won a lot but he has an immense winning mentality. Then you’ve Raphael, who’s won pretty much everything, and he brings that experience to the club as well as his winning attitude. Harry might not have won a lot but he’s still the right character and has the traits of a Man United player. That’s key. With Raphael, there are absolutely no worries about whether he can perform, because of his quality and personality.

On competition for places, you’ve probably never had such a strong squad. Last week, Victor had one of his best games, and Raphael wants to replace him, do you expect players to raise their game because of the competition for places?

OGS: I think so. You have to have that personality in you to relish and enjoy healthy competition for places. That should bring out the best in you. The fear of losing your place but the confidence of believing you deserve your place in the team. I’ve always enjoyed players having someone to look over their shoulder and feeling like they need to perform to stay in the team. That’s the challenge for me to rotate the players and picking the right combination of players.