Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick are the leading contenders to replace Darren Fletcher as Manchester United’s interim manager until the end of the season, according to reports.
With Manchester United parting ways with Ruben Amorim, the club have temporarily put Darren Fletcher in place as their interim manager.
United reportedly don’t plan on appointing a new full-time manager until the summer, but that’s still many months away. As a result, the club are thinking hard about who to give the interim job to in the meantime.
Fabrizio Romano broke the news on Monday night that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had shown an interest in taking the temporary job, with Jamie Jackson and Ed Aarons of The Guardian confirming the following day that United director of football Jason Wilcox considered Solskjaer a prime candidate.
The Guardian added that negotiations between United and Solskjaer’s camp were underway, with Fabrizio Romano confirming that direct talks were on and the manager was ready to accept any proposal.
But it’s not quite a done deal yet, with Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail reporting in the early hours of Wednesday morning that Solskjaer is in a two-way fight with Michael Carrick for the job.
Wheeler adds that even Fletcher still has an outside chance of getting the job, and he would presumably boost his chances with a win over Burnley on Wednesday night.
Yet Wheeler agrees with the other sources that Solskjaer is the leading contender for the interim position, and only Carrick appears to be well-positioned to challenge him.
Arsenal will be watching closely, as the Gunners are due to face Manchester United in the Premier League on January 25th. Before that, United will also play a Manchester derby against Arsenal’s title rivals Manchester City on January 17th.
So United’s choice of manager could have multiple indirect impacts on the trajectory of the title race.