Carrick and Solskjaer frontrunners for caretaker role

Michael Carrick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have emerged as the frontrunners to become Manchester United’s caretaker manager until the end of the season.

The former players have both previously managed United – very briefly as caretaker in Carrick’s case – and are set for face-to-face talks with the club’s leadership.

It is not out of the question the pair could also work together because Carrick was a significant part of Solskjaer’s coaching team when he replaced Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford in 2018.

Darren Fletcher, United’s current under-18s coach, who has also been spoken to about the job, will continue as interim manager until a caretaker is appointed.

Former midfielder Fletcher takes charge of his first match on Wednesday, when United visit Burnley (20:15 GMT) in the Premier League, after which the recruitment process will resume.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, the ex-United striker, is also believed to be a contender.

Amorim was sacked on Monday after a turbulent 14 months in charge.

United plan on naming a permanent successor for Amorim in the summer.

One player has told BBC Sport they felt it was possible the role could be shared by more than one of the contenders, or that Fletcher could even stay in the job until the end of the season if the next two matches are positive.

Solskjaer initially took charge in a similar fashion when United sacked Mourinho in 2018, and he subsequently became the full-time manager for three years before he was sacked in November 2021.

Carrick then had a three-game stint as temporary boss after Solskjaer’s dismissal before he left the club in December 2021.

The former England midfielder has been out of work since he was sacked by Championship club Middlesbrough last June after after two and a half years in charge.

Solskjaer was sacked by Turkish club Besiktas in August.

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner and former Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi – now at Marseille – are understood to be early contenders for the full-time job.

Glasner, who won the FA Cup with the Eagles last season, was asked about the link during his news conference on Tuesday.

He said: “I am Crystal Palace manager and it makes no sense for you to ask me any more questions about it.”

By far the more experienced of the two frontrunners for the interim Manchester United job, Solskjaer’s managerial career stretches to 332 more games than Carrick’s.

After his playing days ended, Solskjaer’s coaching career got off to a stunning start as he led his former club Molde to their first ever Norwegian title in his first season in charge in 2011, and repeated the feat a year later before leaving to join Cardiff City in 2014.

He was sacked after only nine months in Wales, following their relegation from the Premier League and a poor start back in the Championship.

He returned to Molde for three years before United came calling following the sacking of Mourinho.

He took over as caretaker boss in December 2018 and the role was made permanent in March 2019.

Solskjaer took United to the Europa League final and a second-placed finish in the 2020-21 season, the joint best in the Premier League by a Red Devils manager since Sir Alex Ferguson left.

However, a poor run of results led to his departure just months later, without a trophy to his name. He did, though, have a longer reign than his more experienced predecessors David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Mourinho.

After more than three years without a job, the former striker returned to management with Turkish side Besiktas in January 2025. However, his tenure lasted just 29 games and he was sacked in August after losing in the play-offs for both the Europa and Conference League.

Despite not winning a trophy since leaving Molde, he still boasts a very healthy career win ratio of 53.1% as a boss.

Carrick does not boast the same managerial CV as Solskjaer, given he has had only one permanent role with Middlesbrough.

Following his retirement from a glittering playing career at Old Trafford, Carrick immediately joined Mourinho’s coaching staff at Manchester United at the end of the 2017-18 season.

After the Portuguese was sacked, he was kept on as a first-team coach throughout Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s 168-game reign. Following the Norwegian’s departure in November 2021 Carrick took over briefly on an interim basis, winning two and drawing one of his three matches in charge. He left following Ralf Rangnick’s appointment.

After nearly a year out of the game, he joined Middlesbrough for his first full-time role in management. He guided Boro to a play-off finish in 2022-23 only to lose to Coventry in the semi-finals. However, his side then narrowly missed out on the top six in successive campaigns, resulting in the former England midfielder being sacked in June last year. His win rate as a manager is 46.8%.