A Solskjaer United return: ‘Increasingly unlikely’

It looks like it will be tougher for Manchester United to find a worthy replacement for Michael Carrick. At the same time, the scenario where they bring back former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in an interim role is becoming less and less likely.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is indisputable with a 2nd and 3rd place in the Premier League, the best Manchester United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson.

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The bookmakers had the Norwegian manager in 10th place among likely heirs, but now that more are out of the question, it is shorter up to the top of the “succession order”. Unai Emery has chosen to continue at Aston Villa and is off the list. Antonio Conte would rather go to Juventus when that job becomes available, and Gareth Southgate clearly wants to continue as ex-national team manager for a while longer than take over United. “Boring” Julian Nagelsmann is said to have made demands for power that sporting director Jason Wilcox is not willing to give.

Also ex-national team manager for France, Didier Deschamps, received a request. He was on nobody’s lists – and with that not a huge plus or minus for the likelihood of a new round for Solskjaer, as he almost immediately declined.

Now another one above Solskjaer is on his way to ending up in the “not applicable” box. Michael Carrick turned around and won against Roma in the Champions League this week, possibly buying himself more time. At the same time, there are frequent reports of potential replacements. One name that has been up is Eddie Howe – but according to The Independent, Manchester United are not convinced about him.

Solskjaer’s career highlights

As a player:
Solskjaer joined Manchester United from Molde in 1996 and became the team’s top scorer in his debut season. The highlight came in 1999, when, as a substitute, he scored the winning goal in injury time in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich – a goal that earned him hero status among United’s supporters. In total, he scored 126 goals in 366 appearances for the club, including 150 appearances as a substitute. He won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and the Champions League with United.

As a coach:
After his playing career, he became coach of United’s reserve team (2008–2010) before taking over Molde in 2011. In his first season, he led Molde to the club’s first league championship in 100 years. He won the league again in 2012 and the cup in 2013. In 2014, he had a brief and unsuccessful spell at Cardiff, before returning to Molde.

In December 2018, he was brought to Manchester United as interim manager after José Mourinho was sacked. He impressed greatly and was given a permanent job in March 2019. In his two full seasons, he delivered a third-place finish and a second-place finish in the Premier League, as well as losses in the Europa League final. After a weak start to the 2021/22 season, he was fired in November 2021. In 2025, he was briefly the coach of Beşiktaş.

Now, a temporary return to Old Trafford could be Solskjaer’s next chapter – if United can’t find someone better.

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