Manchester United’s poor start to the new season has unsurprisingly seen head coach Erik ten Hag come under fire with his future now looking far from certain.
The club held a monthly board meeting in central London on Tuesday, reportedly crucial to whether the Dutchman stays in post, but so far any decision has not been made public.
However, Ten Hag’s permanent predecessor at the club has revealed he is ready to return to management – only weeks after stating publicly that he would love another crack in the Old Trafford hotseat.
Former Manchester United boss finally ready to return to management
As Ten Hag continues to fight for his job, United icon and former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is reportedly nearing a return to the dugout.
The 51-year-old has not managed since leaving Old Trafford back in November 2021, a 4-1 defeat at Watford ending his near three-year spell in charge. During that time the Norwegian took United to the Europa League final and finished second in the Premier League in 2020-21.
Despite links to various jobs down the years, Solskjaer has refrained from a return to management, instead joining UEFA as a technical observer at Euro 2024 earlier this year.
However, Danish outlet Tipsbladet are now reporting that the treble-winning hero is now in talks with an unnamed “big club” over taking the managerial role.
They have stated that Solskjaer was recently approached by Denmark with a view to becoming their new head coach at international level.
But, according to the report, the Norwegian declined an interview with the director of football Peter Moller, as he has instead turned his attentions towards the club.
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Although the “big club” in question is unlikely to be Manchester United with Ten Hag still in post, the news comes only weeks after Solskjaer admitted he would love to return for another crack at the top job.
At a Q&A at the Oslo Business Forum last month the former striker said he would be unable to turn down a return to Old Trafford if asked.
“If the [United] family asks,” he said. “I would say yes every day of the week. It feels wrong to talk about jobs that other people have now – but I would say yes, of course.”
By this time next month Solskjaer will have been out of the managerial game nearly three years. It may only feel like yesterday that the Norwegian was in post at United, but in FourFourTwo’s opinion that would be a long time to be out of the game at the top level.
Football is constantly evolving and developing, once you lose touch with what is needed to be an elite manager it is hard to recover.
Solskjaer has a mixed record as a head coach and clearly there is an element of unfinished business. But if a good job is on the table, he should probably take it.
