Manchester United hold Ole Gunnar Solskjaer talks today as new manager timeline emerges

Former boss is vying with fellow Old Trafford legend Michael Carrick for interim role after Ruben Amorim sacking

Manchester United are expected to appoint an interim manager ahead of next weekend’s Manchester derby showdown, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reportedly due for talks on Saturday.

The Red Devils have placed former long-serving midfielder and current Under-18s lead coach Darren Fletcher in caretaker charge of the first team following the sacking of Ruben Amorim on Monday.

Fletcher oversaw the 2-2 draw at struggling Burnley in the Premier League on Wednesday night and will remain at the helm for Sunday’s visit of Brighton to Old Trafford in the third round of the FA Cup.

However, it appears that Fletcher is not under consideration as United look to place an interim manager in the dugout for the remainder of the season before appointing a permanent successor to Amorim in the summer.

Instead, it is two more former favourites in Solskjaer and Michael Carrick who are the front-runners for the role.

Carrick - who has been out of work since being sacked by Championship side Middlesbrough last summer following two-and-a-half years in charge - reportedly held talks with United’s hierarchy on Thursday.

Carrick made 463 total appearances for United across a 12-year spell after joining from Tottenham in 2006, staying on after retirement in a coaching capacity under Jose Mourinho and serving as first-team coach under former team-mate Solskjaer before spending two games as caretaker manager and then leaving following the Norwegian’s dismissal.

Former Cardiff and Molde boss Solskjaer, meanwhile, is expected to arrive for face-to-face talks with United on Saturday, per the BBC , having signalled his willingness to return on an interim basis.

The 52-year-old was the club’s caretaker manager after the exit of Mourinho in December 2018 and sufficiently impressed to be handed the full-time reins in March 2019, though was later axed in November 2021 after a 4-1 loss at Watford that made it only one win in seven matches.

Solskjaer’s only managerial job since then came with Turkish giants Besiktas, where he spent seven months before being sacked in August after losing a Conference League play-off tie.

Solskjaer scored 126 goals in 366 appearances for United across all competitions between 1996-2007 before an injury-enforced retirement, part of the famous Treble-winning side of 1999 and scorer of the dramatic last-gasp winner in an unforgettable Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Barcelona.

United are said to want to appoint either Carrick or Solskjaer as interim before they host Pep Guardiola’s City in the latest instalment of the Manchester derby in the Premier League next Saturday (January 17).