Ex-Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer among favourites for surprise role

Former Manchester United manager and forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has entered the market to become the next permanent manager of Championship club Sunderland.

The Norwegian has remained away from the sport since his Old Trafford sacking in November 2021. He had spent almost three years in the job prior to that, leading the club to a second-place finish in the 2020/21 campaign, and that same year took the club to the UEFA Europa League Final.

Since then he has partaken in interviews about his time as United's boss - most recently speaking on the Overlap podcast about players he missed out on signing, or details surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo's second stint at the club.

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He made no suggestion that an imminent return to management was on the cards, however bookmakers have now surprisingly thrown Solskjaer into the hat to take over on Wearside. According to gambling.com, the 51-year-old arrives at a solid 5/2 third favourite for the Black Cats job, aligned with a 28.6 percent probability of this becoming a reality.

Former nited midfielder Roy Keane has been in the conversation for some weeks now, and currently leads the way at 5/4. The 52-year-old of course launched his managerial career there in 2006, though only lasted two years in the role before stepping down and eventually turning to punditry - he has not managed a club since 2011.

Other household names on the list include current Stade de Reims boss Will Still (7/4) ex-Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper (3/1), plus former Fulham and Bournemouth coach