Ole Gunnar Solskjaer set to land first management job since Man Utd sack | OneFootball

Former Manchester United player and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is set to take over Turkish giants Besiktas, with confirmation thought to be imminent.

The affable Norwegian coach has not been in charge of any club side since he was sacked by United in November 2021. Solskjaer had taken up a role as a match analyst for UEFA and was spotted watching various Premier League fixtures, but is now on the verge of ending his spell in the managerial wilderness.

In a statement on the club's official website this Friday, Besiktas revealed: "Norwegian Technical Director Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with whom we have started negotiations for the Technical Directorship of our Football A Team, has arrived in Istanbul.

"Solskjaer was welcomed at Istanbul Ataturk Airport by our Vice President Hakan Daltaban, Vice President Kaan Kasaci and Board Member Merve Oztopaloglu."

"I am very happy to be here," Solskjaer told assembled reporters. "It is great that so many people are here for this great club. We have had the first meetings. I am looking forward to starting my job. It is great to be in this great city."

Former Rangers and Feyenoord boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst had only been appointed by the Istanbul outfit in the summer. However, after a bright start to the campaign - Besiktas thrashed Galatasaray 5-0 to win the Turkish Supercup in August and were second in the table in late October - the Dutch coach was sacked at the end of November.

The ex-Besiktas forward Serdar Topraktep resumed his familiar role as interim manager, but is yet to steer the club out of their nosedive in form. They currently sit sixth in the top flight, although are just one point adrift of the European qualification spots.

The churn of personnel has not been limited to the dugout. Besiktas have already had three different figures hold the role of club president this season, with Serdal Adali the current incumbent since the end of December.

Solskjaer's impending arrival offers the chance for a renewal of rivalries with Jose Mourinho. The current Fenerbahce boss was the United manager Solskjaer initially replaced in a caretaker role back in March 2019, breeding a sense of ill-feeling which permeated into their subsequent head-to-head clashes.

Mourinho's Tottenham Hotspur side was twice beaten by Solskjaer's United, however, the Portuguese coach did oversee a 6-1 thrashing of his former employers at Old Trafford in October 2020.