Manchester United have confirmed the inevitable – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is their next permanent manager.
The club had little intention of that when they handed the Norwegian the reins on an interim basis back in December, replacing Jose Mourinho.
However, a run of 14 wins from 19 games, including a history-making comeback in the Champions League, gave them little choice.
The 46-year-old was brought in initially to restore the feel-good factor around Carrington.
Though he’d been successful in his homeland with Molde and in a previous spell with the United reserves, there was little else that would have swayed the board – certainly not his brief spell in the Premier League, and subsequently the Championship, with Cardiff.
From a financial point of view, appointing a less experienced coach will do United a huge favour. Whereas Mourinho was earning an eye-watering £15million a year, his successor will be getting half that.
The Mirror reported earlier this month that Solskjaer would be given a salary of £7.5m, which he’ll have few complaints about given that his yearly wages at Molde were in the hundreds of thousands, not the millions.
As The Sun point out, the former striker will become the third highest-paid current manager in the league, behind only Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino.
Jurgen Klopp’s £7m will be eclipsed, as will Unai Emery’s £6m.
Over at Chelsea, Maurizio Sarri is on a relatively modest £5.15m.
In return, Ed Woodward has left the new man in charge under no illusions as to what he expects.
“To lift the Premier League trophy again is what we expect, what we are used to, what we have done so many times,” Solskjaer said upon his official unveiling, per the Mail.
“We can’t wait too many years but it won’t happen overnight. The Premier League title is vital for us.
“I know we will be successful but it’s about taking it step by step.”
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