MOLDE CHIEF EXECUTIVE officer Oystein Neerland says the club are “happy” to lend Ole Gunner Solskjaer to Manchester United on a temporary basis, saying that the decision is a “statement of trust”.
The former Red Devils striker will take interim charge at Old Trafford following Jose Mourinho’s exit until the end of the 2018-19 season as United look for a permanent successor to the Portuguese.
The Norwegian will then return to Molde once again to see out his tenure with the Eliteserien outfit, whom he recently signed a new contract with to take him through to 2021.
Former caretaker boss and first-team coach Erling Moe will take the reins in Solskjaer’s absence and Neerland has acknowledged that the respect shown by United in approaching Molde was a major factor in them agreeing to let the former forward take a sojourn in the Premier League.
“That Manchester United ask Molde FK to lend the manager is by itself an event, and not least a statement of trust for both Ole Gunnar and Molde FK,” Neerland said in an official statement . “We are happy to lend Ole Gunnar. We wish both him and the club success.
“This is a big opportunity for Molde FK. We think it will develop and help to put Molde FK further on the football map.”
The agreement between the two parties, to see Solskjaer return to the helm at Molde following his spell with United, is an impressive show of faith between the two clubs, particularly if the 45-year-old ultimately flourishes in the role at Old Trafford and becomes de facto favourite for the job full-time.
The striker, who famously scored an injury-time winner for the Red Devils in the 1999 Champions League final, added: “In football, you never know what can happen.
“This is an opportunity I had to take. I am looking forward to leading Manchester United until the summer. At the same time, I will follow closely what is happening here at home.
“We have built stone for stone and the end of the season this year gives us hope for another good season. Erling, Trond [Strande, coach] and Per Magne [Misund, goalkeeping coach] will do a lot of work while I’m gone.”
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Great game City keeper had a blinder!!! 1300 for an U19 game on a Wednesday night and there were 400 at Richmond Park for Pats v City on Monday…laughable
Be interesting to see what the attendance would have been if the Liverpool Man U game was on tonight instead of Monday.
True but even tonight City v Barcelona on tonight too
Very few irish ppl support Man City compared to Utd and Lpool. Just goes to show that irish ppl are event junkies. We love special occasions like these or going over to england to see a game, but when it comes to the average humdrum LOI fixture ppl are less enthusiastic.
City Barcelona is no comparison to Liverpool United for the Irish football fan
Are you saying there are more Irish fans supporting Man City and Barca than Man Utd and Liverpool??
U19 and U17 leagues were a fantastic idea well done cork
Great support. Well done Cork.
Is there a group stage or is it just a continous 2 leg knockout?? Btw fair play to cork
They play Roma in a 2 leg play-off and the winner goes to the group stage
Ah sound. Hope they get through
The winners of the next leg play the runners up of the Champions league groups, then the winners of that game play the winners of the champions league groups.
Well done Cork.
No Kenny Browne in sight Darren you’d have been delighted
Yes….. You have a lot of decent footballers there. No room for chubby checkers anywhere! Posh boy….you weren’t the lad on about goal difference between Dundalk and Cork defences were you yesterday? Less said about the MASSIVE +3 goals between teams the better.
@Darren Sheils: No it wasn’t me anyway haha
Great stuff from City.I’ll have to book the holiday to Rome.
That’s a tight net. Well done CCFC
Great support and an unbelievable result! Fair play Cork, they’ll continue to be a top side with this young talent coming through!