How Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Reacted to Losing Out on Man Utd Job—Report

Manchester United were reportedly swayed by interviews with the leading interim candidates.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær went head-to-head with his former assistant. | ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Ole Gunnar Solskjær is reportedly anything but bitter about being overlooked by Manchester United in their hunt for a new interim manager, with Michael Carrick set to land the job instead.

Carrick was formerly Solskjær’s assistant during the Norwegian’s time at the helm from 2018–21 and is yet to manage at a top-flight level beyond a three-game caretaker run when he succeeded his boss. But the retired midfielder is believed to have impressed the Old Trafford hierarchy during a face-to-face interview when decisions were being made over who would take the team forward after Ruben Amorim’s dismissal.

Solskjær also spoke to the club, quickly throwing his hat into the ring last week, but Carrick is expected to get the gig until the end of the season. Darren Fletcher, who was placed in charge on a short-term basis while that process was ongoing, is set to return to his existing role as U18s manager.

BBC Sport’s Simon Stone has reported that Solskjær “wants Michael Carrick to make a success of the Manchester United job.” They played together, then worked together, and have “kept in touch.”

Discussing the situation with BBC Radio 5 Live, United writer Andy Mitten said that Solskjær “spoke well” of the other candidate when he met the club officials. Above all, “these are friends of his.”

Solskjær was a United player for 11 years, a United coach for three and a United manager for three more. Even though he was sacked from his position as the latter in the autumn of 2021, it is clear that the club holds a very special place in his heart and he formed lifelong bonds with teammates.

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What Comes Next for Ole Gunnar Solskjær?

Ole Gunnar Solskjær is currently out of work. | Seskim Photo/MB Media/Getty Images

It’s not obvious what the future holds for Solskjær. Since being relieved of his United duties just over four years ago, the only managerial role he has held was an ill-fated few months at Beşiktaş in 2025.

The clubs at which he’s had success as a manager are those he knows well and considers “family,” compared to fairly disastrous short-lived spells at others

Solskjær’s record at United, while unable to produce a trophy, enjoyed the kind of consistency that fans have only been able to dream of in the years since.

He also led Molde, the breakout club of his playing career, to their first ever Norwegian title in 2011 and then retained it in 2012. Two other league championships came shortly after he’d left in both 2014 and 2019. In stark contrast, he lasted nine months at Cardiff City.

Solskjær did not fare well at Beşiktaş in 2025. | Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu/Getty Images

Even at the age of just 52, Solskjær seems less and less inclined to be a manager... unless it’s Manchester United. He said in 2024 at an event in Oslo that if United, which he referred to as “the family,” asked him back he would “say ‘yes’ every day of the week.”

On another occasion, he told the BBC: “Man Utd is my family and will always be part of me.”

The Beşiktaş episode, lasting eight months, may have burned him for good. Since leaving Türkiye, Solskjær and his wife have settled themselves back in Greater Manchester, all the while maintaining the family home in rural western Norway. One newspaper report in the last week even said he had “no plans to return to management” until the United opportunity arose.

Now that he didn’t get the job, it’s hard to envisage him in any other.

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