Manchester United board have decided to part ways with Ole Gunnar Solskjær after five hours of internal talks, a new report from England has revealed. The directive was formalized at an emergency meeting organised by the club's hierarchy following Saturday afternoon's humiliating defeat against Watford in the English Premier League.
Ahead of the encounter, Manchester United needed a positive reaction after picking up successive defeats against rivals Liverpool and Manchester City. However, the Red Devils were dealt yet another setback, collapsing to a 4-1 defeat against Claudio Ranieri's Watford side at Vicarage Road. Goals by Joshua King, Ismaila Sarr, Joao Pedro and Emmanuel Dennis fired the Hornets to their fourth win of the season, with substitute Donny van de Beek grabbing the only consolation goal for the 13-time league champions.
According to the Times in the UK, an emergency virtual board meeting was called by the Glazer family during the second half of the match. During the discussions, which started at at 19:00 GMT+0, the club's managing director, Richard Arnold, was asked to negotiate the precise terms of Solskajer's departure with the club's stock still dropping as a result of the poor run of form overseen by the Norwegian.
Per the Guardian's Fabrizio Romano, a decision has been reached and the former Manchester United striker is expected to vacate his post in the next 24 hours. Although this is pending official announcing, the former teammate of Ole, Darren Fletcher, will be tasked to man affairs in the dugout and will be assisted by Michael Carrick, with assistant manager Mike Phelan expected to follow the outgoing manager out of the door.
Manchester United working on compensation and written agreement with Ole Gunnar Solskjær. It's gonna be 'mutual agreement' to part ways, as reported before. Solskjær will leave, it's over. #MUFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 20, 2021
Official statement expected in the next hours, once paperworks will be completed.
Fletcher and Carrick are ready as interim solutions as Manchester United manager, confirmed - they're waiting for club final decision. #MUFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 21, 2021
Announcement in place for Solskjær to be officially fired in the next hours. It's gonna be a 'kind and respectful' statement.
Meanwhile, rumors of Zinedine Zidane being a front-runner in the race for the managerial post at Manchester United has intensified since the newest development. As reported in weeks past, the French coach is said to be skeptical about taking on a managerial role in the interim and is under no pressure to do so despite the interest purportedly expressed by the Red Devils. However, the Glazer family have asked for talks with the former Real Madrid boss to be "accelerated" as they retain optimism for him to lead the project.
Ajax's Erik ten Haag has also been identified as a potential target with Leicester City's Brendan Rodgers and Paris Saint-Germain's Mauricio Pochettino also on the list of potential candidates.
