Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær was present at D.C. United’s training facility in Leesburg, Va. on Tuesday, sources with knowledge of the visit told The Athletic.
Solskjær left his role as Manchester United manager in 2021 and hasn’t worked for a club since. D.C. United manager Wayne Rooney and Solskjær played together at Manchester United from 2004-07 at the beginning of Rooney’s career and the end of Solskjær’s. They won one Premier League title together in 2006-07.
Rooney, his staff and players are already in Texas preparing for the club’s Wednesday match against Austin FC and Solskjær accompanied by a pair of associates. A source close to the club’s sporting operation said that Solskjær is not a candidate to replace Rooney, nor is he being considered for the club’s general manager vacancy.
In an interview with The Athletic last month, Solskjaer said that he was “going to the east coast of the United States in a few weeks to see Wayne Rooney and David Beckham, see a few games and see what’s what.”
A D.C. United spokesperson declined to comment.
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The guaranteed portion of Rooney’s contract expires after this season, with a mutual option for 2024. Rooney said last month that he and the club had yet to discuss his future.
“I am slightly disappointed and frustrated that there has been no contact for two months,” Rooney told the Washington Post’s Steven Goff in September. “We asked about a new deal. We can sit down and talk about it. We haven’t heard back. Either way, I can take whatever the situation is. I was hoping we would have, either way, at least spoken about it. That hasn’t been the case.”
D.C. doesn’t currently have a GM after parting ways with Lucy Rushton at the end of the 2022 season. The club contacted Orlando City for permission to interview technical director Ricardo Moreira this winter, sources said, but little else about United’s search was reported. In the absence of a permanent hire, Rooney has been given a bigger say in the team’s roster decisions, while Dave Kasper, the club’s president of soccer operations and sporting director has served as the interim GM.
Sources within the club have suggested over the past month that United feel any decision made on Rooney’s future as the club’s head coach should be made with input from whoever they select as the club’s new GM, a decision they’ll likely make in the coming months.
Under Rooney, D.C. sits 10th in the Eastern Conference with two games remaining in the regular season. He took over during the 2022 season and began retooling the roster as United finished last in MLS.
Moreira could still be a candidate as he has a mutual contract option for 2024 with Orlando, as does Orlando executive vice president of soccer operations Luiz Muzzi.
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