Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Manchester United make £500k goodwill payment to Molde

The payment is the second to Molde, following one made upon Solskjaer's arrival in December

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Friday 29 March 2019 12:15 GMT
Comments
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer targeting trophies after being named Manchester United manager

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Manchester United made a goodwill payment of approximately £500,000 to Molde this month after hiring Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as their new permanent manager.

Solskjaer signed a three-year deal worth around £7million-a-year to take over at Old Trafford on a full-time basis on Thursday.

The Norwegian's contract with former club Molde ended upon him becoming United's caretaker manager in December, with United paying an initial sum - understood to be around £500k - to employ him temporarily.

The club have now followed that up with a second payment of around £500k as a gesture of their gratitude to Molde and may yet establish a relationship with the Eliteserien side.

Solskjaer only signed his previous contract with Molde on 3 December, weeks before succeeding Jose Mourinho as caretaker of United.

The total £1million payment is significantly lower than the amount of compensation Tottenham Hotspur would have demanded from United in order to appoint Mauricio Pochettino, Solskjaer's main rival for the role.

Pochettino was the favourite to become United's next permanent manager following Mourinho's dismissal, but Solskjaer's record of 14 wins from his 19 games in charge turned heads among the Old Trafford hierarchy.

Solskjaer's backroom staff are yet to sign contracts with United but are expected to remain in place under the Norwegian at Old Trafford.

Mike Phelan, Solskjaer's assistant, remains employed by A-League side Central Coast Mariners as a sporting director despite spending the past three months working in Manchester.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in