‘Too much pressure!’ – The reason AC Milan and Real Madrid legend Carlo Ancelotti never wanted to be Man Utd manager is revealed

Despite his time as United boss ending abruptly in November 2021, Solskjaer insists he was ‘privileged’ to occupy the Old Trafford hotseat. “I felt privileged to be the manager of Manchester United, but of course it’s not the same as playing,” the Norwegian said.

“As a player, you just do your job. Suddenly now you’re the manager, you’re the face of everyone. You think about all these supporters, players, everything surrounding Manchester United. But that pressure is a privilege because I was allowed to do that and I was allowed to deal with it in my way.

“And that was having great staff around us, an environment in and around the club that was very positive. But in the end, it doesn’t matter if you enjoy coming to work every day, training sessions… you need results and we unfortunately had a very bad six-week spell and that’s too long at a club like Manchester United and they made a change, which is fine.

“Reflecting back on it, it was sad. We lost to Watford of course, and I knew this was more or less the end. I drove my family to the airport, they went back to Norway, and I was going to work.

“I got a text – ‘Ole, I need to see you in my office’ – and I knew what was going to happen, so I rang my wife and said: ‘I’ll catch you up, I’ll probably be back home before you!'”