Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was back in the Premier League on Saturday — albeit only as a spectator.

Solskjaer scored 91 goals in 235 Premier League games for Manchester United as a playerbetween 1996 and 2007.

He returned to England's top division as a manager with Cardiff in 2014 before going on to occupy the United hot seat between December 2018 and November 2021.

Solskjaer has not had a job in management since he was sacked by United more than three years ago and he hinted last month that he was effectively retired when he told Norwegian podcast Bakrommet: “Now I do exactly what I want and enjoy myself. I have reached a position where I can pick and choose, and I am lucky there. Financially, I don’t need anything.’

Despite those comments, plus reports that he recently rejected offers from Denmark and former club Molde, Solskjaer is the favourite with multiple bookmakers to be the next permanent manager of Wolves.

Solskjaer watched Wolves at Molineux on Saturday when the Midlands outfit were beaten 2-1 by Ipswich Town. Although the 51-year-old’s visit to Molineux seemingly had nothing to do with him possibly replacing under-fire boss Gary O’Neil, his attendance will naturally add fuel to the rumour mill.

Mail Sport understands that the real reason behind Solskjaer’s trip to Wolverhampton wasthat he had been keen to catch up with Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna, who previously worked as a coach under the Norwegian at Old Trafford. Solskjaer is still close friends with McKenna, as well as Ipswich coach Martyn Pert – who also used to work with him at United.

Solskjaer and McKenna were pictured embracing before kick-off on Saturday. There were also suggestions on social media that Solskjaer had wanted to attend Saturday’s

game, in part, because one of his sons is an Ipswich fan. Ipswich won Saturday’s game courtesy of an 94th-minute strike by Jack Taylor. A Matt Doherty own goal had earlier opened the scoring before Matheus Cunha equalised for Wolves.

Wolves have now lost four games in a row in the Premier League – a run of results that has seen them drop to 19th place, behind Ipswich in 18th.

There were chaotic scenes on the field after Saturday’s defeat. Wolves defender Rayan Ait-Nouri was shown a second yellow card after the final whistle and had to be ushered down the tunnel by team-mate Craig Dawson, while Cunha was also involved in some pushing and shoving.

Cunha could be set for a lengthy ban after footage appeared to show him striking an Ipswich official in the face, dislodging his glasses.

Meanwhile, Wolves manager Gary O’Neil said he is not interested in speculation about his future after his team’s fourth straight Premier League defeat ramped up the pressure on the Wolves boss.

“I’m not interested in my own position. I know the work I do every day and I know the situation we’re in,” O’Neil told reporters.

“I know getting this group to perform the way they did took a lot of work. People can point the finger at me but some of the responsibility has to land on the players.”

Wolves Chairman Jeff Shi expressed his support for O”Neil earlier in the week despite the team’s poor form and disciplinary problems, with Mario Lemina losing the captaincy after an altercation with West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen.

On Saturday, defender Rayan Ait-Nouri received a second yellow for a post-match scuffle.

“That group downstairs need me this week to help get them into a place where they are ready to go. I’ll keep fighting for them and with them until I’m told not to,”O’Neil said.

“It doesn’t mean I don’t think I’m going to get sacked. For every (poor) result which comesthe chances of me losing my job heighten. It doesn’t concern me, the situation drives me to

want to do better.”— Daily Mail/Reuters