Solskjaer will get new deal without winning a trophy
Manchester United are preparing to hand Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a new contract, even if they finish the season without a trophy.
The Old Trafford hierarchy are convinced Solskjaer is bringing marked improvement and that his future should not be determined on whether they win the Europa League, the only trophy still realistically available following defeat by Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.
United have yet to win silverware under Solskjaer and are facing the prospect of a fourth successive season without a trophy unless they lift the Europa League, the last competition they won in 2017.
Having drawn Spanish side Granada in the quarter-finals, United are the favourites to win the competition and would face Roma or Ajax in the last four.
United are second in the Premier
League and look well placed to qualify for the Champions League, even if the 14-point gap to leaders Manchester City is a reminder of the gulf still to bridge.
United face a big summer in the transfer market, despite the financial constraints that could limit Solskjaer’s scope for changes, and are unlikely to want the situation regarding the manager’s future dragging over the summer.
Solskjaer, who has 15 months left on his existing contract, has yet to sit down to formally discuss the details around an extension with Ed Woodward, the executive vicechairman, but both parties are said to be relaxed about the situation.
Woodward and the owners, the Glazer family, believe they have seen enough progress, on and off the field, under Solskjaer to warrant offering the 48-year-old a new deal. The Norwegian was appointed on a caretaker basis following the sacking of Jose Mourinho in December 2018 and signed a permanent threeyear contract four months later.
Solskjaer invited criticism for suggesting before the second leg of United’s Europa League last-16 victory over AC Milan that cup triumphs can mask whether real progress is being achieved and that such trophies can be an “ego thing”.