Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in talks over shock return as Man United manager | OneFootball

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could make a shock return to Old Trafford after Manchester United held talks with the Norwegian about becoming their interim manager.

Having sacked Ruben Amorim after just 14 months in charge on Monday morning – with his explosive rant following a 1-1 draw with Leeds over the weekend proving the final straw for the club’s hierarchy – United appointed under-18s coach Darren Fletcher as interim boss initially.

The Scot will take charge of Wednesday’s match at Burnley and is expected to remain at the helm for Sunday’s FA Cup tie with Brighton but United are leaning towards a summer appointment of a permanent new coach, meaning there is an interim role to be filled for the rest of the season.

The club have spoken to former manager Solskjaer – who was previously in charge at Old Trafford from December 2018 to November 2021 and has been out of work since being sacked by Besiktas last August – about taking over until the end of the current campaign and he is seen as having a strong chance of being appointed as interim boss due to his long history with the club.

The 52-year-old is always willing to help United out, given his long-time connection with the Red Devils, having first joined as a player in 1996 and spending more than a decade at Old Trafford during the height of the Sir Alex Ferguson era.

He took over as caretaker manager in December 2018 following the abrupt sacking of Jose Mourinho and earned the job permanently in March 2019, leading the side to second in the Premier League and the Europa League final in the 2020-21 campaign. United have not finished that high in the league since Solskjaer’s departure the following November when results dipped.

open image in gallery

Darren Fletcher (left) joined United’s first-team coaching set-up under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (right) (PA Archive)

open image in gallery

Solskjaer has been out of work since being sacked by Besiktas in August for failing to qualify for the Champions League (Getty Images)

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is still seen as a top candidate to permanently succeed Amorim in the summer, as Ineos’s football leadership have another big decision to make after a series of missteps have left the club facing another restart.

The 51-year-old Austrian is widely expected to leave Selhurst Park in the summer, when his contract expires, meaning the timing would work out perfectly for United if they appoint an interim boss such as Solskjaer for the rest of this season.

There are some stylistic questions over how suited Glasner is to a team that would seek to dominate possession, not to mention the use of three at the back which became such a sticking point under Amorim, but a key to his rise has been a far greater adaptability than the recently-sacked Portuguese.

United will assess some of the names they looked at back in the summer of 2024, including Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna, although there is also appreciation for the job that Enzo Maresca has done at Chelsea, while some sources also maintain that Julian Nagelsmann could have a chance, as the increasingly influential United recruitment director, Christopher Vivell, knows his work well from Red Bull Leipzig. Nagelsmann may also want a return to club football after the 2026 World Cup with Germany.

United will make clear to any candidate that the head coach sits within a wider structure, terms that suddenly became a flashpoint for Amorim given his controversial final press conference, and McKenna and Maresca may particularly appeal for such a role.