Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been given a stay of execution at Old Trafford as the club’s board are split in opinion over who should succeed the Norwegian coach.
Manchester United’s board held crisis talks on Monday about Solskjaer’s future but he remains in charge, despite the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool.
The Red devils are now minded to part with Solskjaer, despite handing him a new three-year contract last summer and unanimously backing him as recently as last week after the 4-2 defeat to Leicester City.
But, ESPN claims there’s a dispute among the club’s heirachy over who to turn to, with the board split between choosing Antonio Conte and Mauricio Pochettino.
Conte is a free agent after leaving Inter and the Italian coach has made it known that he would be willing to break his rule of taking over a team midway through the campaign.
The former Chelsea manager is widely considered one of the finest managers in the world but his brand of football is pragmatic, with some of the members of United board feeling it runs against the ‘cultural reboot’ that Solskjaer has deployed in the last three years.
There is also a fear that Conte would only represent a short-term solution to their problems and that he will not think about the long-term success of United.
On the other side of the board are backers of Pochettino. The Argentine was a leading candidate to replace Jose Mourinho in December 2018 and he was keen on taking charge at Old Trafford.
But, Solskjaer’s early success saw United drop their interest in Pochettino and he joined PSG last year after being sacked by Tottenham in November 2019.
Pochettino remains open to managing at Old Trafford one day but he’s had a tough stint in the France and he would be a more expensive option for United, who would need to compensate PSG to hire him.
With a split currently at board level, Solskjaer will be given extra time to turn his reign around but there’s an acceptance that he’s likely to be eventually sacked by the international break.
