Ole Gunnar Solskjaer accidentally announced Manchester United interim boss

Norwegian PM also prematurely announces the appointment; Later deletes tweet

By Zinny Boswell

Wednesday 19 December 2018 09:59, UK

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been accidentally unveiled as Manchester United's interim manager on the club's website.

The news was broken in the caption of a video, which was titled 'The Most Famous Night of Ole's Career', buried in the club's online library. It has since been removed from the website.

The video was captioned: "Solskjaer becomes our interim manager, 20 seasons after clinching the Treble with THAT goal at Camp Nou..."

Alongside that, there were several videos posted on the website commemorating some of Solskjaer's best moments in a United shirt.

Sky Sports News understands he is the frontrunner to replace Jose Mourinho, who was sacked on Tuesday morning, on an interim basis until the end of the season.

United were not alone in prematurely announcing Solskjaer, the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg congratulated her compatriot of his new job in a tweet - which has since been deleted - on Tuesday evening.

She wrote: "Great day for Norwegian football. Good luck keeping control of the Red Devils, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer."

Solskjaer, 45, is currently in charge of Norwegian side Molde, who declined to comment on their manager's link to Manchester United.

It is understood United are interested in hiring a technical director for the first time in their history with the new man expected to be in place before they appoint a permanent successor to Mourinho in the summer.

Solskjaer made 235 Premier League appearances for United, hitting 91 goals including the injury-time winner in the 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

He managed United's reserve side from 2008 for two years before leaving for Molde.

He then had a disastrous eight-month spell in charge at Cardiff City in 2014 before returning to Molde in 2015 and has just signed a new three-year deal until the end of the 2021 season.

Manchester United play Cardiff in Wales on Saturday.

Ed Woodward, United's executive vice-chairman, believes the caretaker boss should know the club and understand their traditions along with the culture of attacking football.

Michael Carrick will take care of first-team affairs before a manager is put in charge until the end of the season.

Reports also claim Mike Phelan, who was Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Old Trafford for five years, could return to work alongside Solskjaer.