Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given his verdict on if he would ever return to Manchester United.
After initially making his name as a player at Old Trafford, scoring 126 goals in 366 games for the club and becoming known as somewhat of a super sub, he went into coaching and joined the Red Devils staff.
He eventually worked his way up to managing the team, taking over initially on an interim basis from Joe Mourinho in December 2018 before impressing and becoming permanent boss in March 2019.
The Norweigian had a mixed time in the dugout, and eventually left his role after a 4-1 Premier League defeat by Watford in November 2021.
Now, however, that the dust has settled, he has given his verdict on a potential return, with current manager Erik ten Hag under increasing pressure.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given his verdict on if he would ever return to Manchester United
The former striker was in charge of the club between 2018 and 2021 after an interim spell
He had first made his name at the club as a player, scoring over 100 goals in more than 300 matches
‘If your family asks you, you say yes every day of the week,’ Solskjaer said at the Oslo Business Forum in Lillestrøm, via VG. ‘It feels wrong to talk about jobs other people have. But I say yes.’
The former striker was initally backed by fans as a club legend and United finished third and second in the Premier League in his two full seasons in charge.
There were, however, questions asked of off-field matters, and Solsjkaer went onto criticise Cristiano Ronaldo after both had left the club.
‘With the ball, with him in the team, it was no problem,’ he said in March on Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet. ‘Without him [pressing], we had to change a little bit the different roles we’d gotten used to.
‘We were one of the highest pressing teams before [Ronaldo joined]. We let Dan James go when Cristiano came in, and they’re two different types of players.’
He went onto add of the club: ‘No one said “No” to being the club captain, it was just for certain games.
‘[On whether they said, “I don’t want to be captain for this match.”] Yes, but they didn’t want to say it themselves, they had other people come up to me and say it. It was disappointing.
‘It’s a different generation, its Gen Z. It’s petty and shows a lack of ambition.’
He has spoken out on his time in charge since, admitting Cristiano Ronaldo (right) made things difficult
Current manager Erik ten Hag is under increasing pressure after a poor start to the season
Ten Hag, who replaced Ralf Rangnick in the summer of 2022, was backed in the summer by new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has struggled for the majority of his time at the club.
He was ultimately Solsjkaer’s replacement, with Rangnick in caretaker charge, but has delivered third and eighth – their worst ever – Premier League finishes.
The Dutchman has secured two trophies – the Carabao Cup in 2022-23 and the FA Cup last year – but it has been another tough start to the camapign this term, with United 11th in the standings.