“There might just be a situation there where you can exploit, and I know that we at Man United are one of the biggest, and the biggest, financially well-off.

“I’m sure we are capable, when we get back to normality, that we can do the business that we want to.”

How Solskjaer’s remarks are received among struggling clubs and beyond remains to be seen as the country fights to avoid the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus. Neville has since said he should not have used the word “exploit” in his question.

But the Norwegian said he and his staff had been using the time afforded by the national lockdown to run the rule over potential targets and assess his own squad to ensure United are ready if and when football does resume.

“Football is going to get back to normality at one point, and it’s very important we’re ready when that happens,” Solskjaer said.

“We want to be the best at everything, and of course now is a chance to spend more time - you discuss players, discuss plans.

“We’ve evaluated what we need, of course with the coaching staff we’ve looked at games, evaluated games, discussing on videos calls like this.”

Solskjaer’s views on the transfer market came as Christian Seifert, the chief executive officer of the Bundesliga, predicted the short-term collapse of the global £6 billion transfer market. Seifert does not believe clubs will be in a position to buy and sell freely after a crisis that could potentially cost the entire football industry billions.