Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told Alexis Sanchez and his team-mates that Manchester United cannot afford to carry players if they are to halt the club’s decline.

The manager has made clear that restoring United to the top of the English game will be a long-term project after seeing their Champions League run ended emphatically by Barcelona on Wednesday.

Solskjaer has become increasingly frustrated at the way his squad’s performance has dropped off over the past six weeks, with United losing five out of seven matches as they prepare for Sunday’s trip to Everton.

He is looking at trimming his squad over the summer, with Sanchez’s long-term future up in the air after a poor 15 months at Old Trafford.

The Chile forward has scored just twice all season, and has started only five matches in all competitions since Solskjaer took over at Old Trafford, initially as caretaker-manager, on December 19.

Sanchez, who has been hampered by injury problems since joining United in January 2018, may prove difficult to offload, given that he has a contract until 2022 worth more than £400,000 a week when bonuses are factored in.

Solskjaer, though, will not allow passengers in a squad he has made clear must become fitter and work harder in order to avoid a repeat next season of the 20-plus point gap that has opened up between themselves and the Premier League leaders.