Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the former manager of Manchester United, may be given the opportunity to coach Club Brugge again.
Since being fired by United in November 2021 as a result of the team’s poor Premier League performance, Solskjaer has been unemployed. Yet as he approaches 18 months without management, he has been biding his time ever since.
But, his absence from the game may be about to end, as he is apparently being considered by Club Brugge for their open management position. The defending Belgian champions have already fired two managers this year, with Scott Parker of former Bournemouth serving in the position for only a short time.
Solskjaer is reportedly one among at least three men vying for the Brugge position, according to reports from Belgium (via The Mail). Both his fellow countryman Ronny Deila and former Bayern Munich backup Dino Toppmoller are thought to be under consideration.
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Deila, who led Celtic from 2014 to 2016, is rumored to be thinking about staying at Standard Liege. After a brief stay in Major League Soccer, he only became leadership of the Belgian club in 2022, but he led a 3-0 triumph against Club Brugge in September, the heavy hitters’ worst league defeat in more than a year.
After leaving Bayern Munich with manager Julian Nagelsmann, Toppmoller hasn’t had a job. The German has previously managed in Germany and Luxembourg and worked under Nagelsmann at RB Leipzig.
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When manager Alfred Schreuder left for Ajax, Club Brugge has struggled despite winning the Belgian premier division the previous season. Although his team advanced to the Champions League knockout stages while under Carl Hoefkens’ leadership, Hoefkens was fired, and Parker’s tenure as manager lasted less than three months.
Benfica eliminated the team from the European competition during Parker’s miserable tenure as manager, and the Englishman failed to improve the team’s league performance. Although though Club Brugge is currently in fifth place and is 19 points behind league leader Genk, they still have some hope of making the Champions League.
Although there would still be work to do to overtake those ahead of them, a top-four finish would be sufficient to qualify for the play-offs for a Champions League spot. They are 16 points behind second-place Union SG and 11 points behind third-place Royal Antwerp, but there is still time to close the two-point deficit to fourth-place Gent.
Club Brugge’s interim manager is Rik De Mil as they play three clubs outside the top six in their final three games. The team’s next opponent is bottom-dwelling Seraing, who might be demoted this week.
