United are currently 14th in the Premier League but the Norwegian’s job is safe despite mutual interest between the club and Mauricio Pochettino
Ed Woodward has publicly given his backing to head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer amid ongoing speculation about the Norwegian’s long-term future at Manchester United.
After a poor start to the campaign there has been mounting speculation that Solskjaer was on borrowed time at Old Trafford. Mauricio Pochettino, whom United have admired for a while, is firmly available and has put himself back in the spotlight amid the increasing pressure on the current United boss.
After back-to-back defeats, United gave Solskjaer some breathing room by defeating Everton 3-1 at the weekend.
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Goal understands that whatever the result at Goodison Park, Solskjaer’s position was not under threat despite United sitting 15th in the table going into that fixture and now Woodward, executive vice-chairman at Old Trafford, has come out and backed Solskjaer.
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In a statement released alongside the club’s first-quarter financial results he said: “On the pitch, while there is still hard work ahead to achieve greater consistency, we remain absolutely committed to the positive path we are on under Ole as the team continues to develop.
“We miss playing in front of our fans and we are working hard together with our governing bodies and relevant authorities to ensure that fans can safely return as soon as possible.”
It is understood Pochettino would be keen to take the manager’s job at Old Trafford and has openly spoken about his desire to return to Premier League management. However, despite United’s poor start to the campaign, Goal understands the club are committed to the long-term rebuild plan under Solskjaer and won’t be pushed into making a reactionary decision.
United now sit 14th in the table following the win at Goodison Park before the international break, and have won just three of their opening seven league fixtures.
They face West Brom at home in their next game before tricky away fixtures at Southampton and West Ham sandwiched between Champions League clashes against Istanbul Basaksehir, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig, where they will be hoping to get a step closer to qualification for the knockout rounds.
United are atop Group H after winning their first two group-stage matches prior to last week’s defeat against Istanbul Basaksehir.
