The air at Manchester United remains dense over the international break amidst report that the club might name the next manager to take over from Mourinho who was axed last year December
But United have remained tight-lipped over a time frame for the appointment of a permanent manager, but it is understood an announcement could yet be made before the summer.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season when Jose Mourinho was dismissed in December, and the Norwegian has masterminded a rejuvenation of United’s fortunes.
Since overseeing the Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain there has been a growing expectation that Solskjaer will be given the job on a full-time basis, perhaps as early as during this international break.
While United are remaining coy on exactly when an appointment will be announced, it is understood that it could yet happen before the end of the season.
Solskjaer, who left Molde to take temporary charge of United and was originally expected to return to Norway in the summer, would appear a certainty to land the job on a permanent basis given he has steered the club into the Champions League quarter-finals and back into the race for a top four finish.
Since that 3-1 win in Paris United players have been queuing up to back the Norwegian for the job. On the night of that historic success Luke Shaw and Romelu Lukaku both said it seemed certain that Solskjaer would be kept on beyond the summer.
Despite successive defeats to Arsenal in the Premier League and Wolves in the FA Cup quarter-final since then none of the momentum of Solskjaer’s reign has been lost, and Nemanja Matic is the latest player to back the caretaker boss for a permanent role, as well as staff members Mike Phelan, Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna.
“I think he is a great manager,’ Matic told ESPN when asked about Solskjaer.”But you have to say also that with Mike, Michael and Kieran, they work very well together. They work as a team. It is not only Ole.
“There are people behind him who help us. I will be happy if he stays, and I hope he will.”