Darren Fletcher is expected to take charge of Manchester United’s crunch Champions League clash against Villarreal on Tuesday after the club decided to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following Saturday’s 4-1 defeat away at Watford.

Solskjaer’s beleaguered players were outfought and outclassed at Vicarage Road. Goals from Josh King, Ismaila Sarr, Joao Pedro and Emmanuel Dennis earned Claudio Ranieri’s side all three points.

United’s fifth Premier League defeat of the campaign leaves them seventh in the table, six points behind fourth-placed West Ham and 12 behind leaders Chelsea.

Solskjaer has registered just one victory in his last seven league fixtures in charge of the Red Devils (a 3-0 win away at Tottenham on October 30) and the Norwegian coach’s future was discussed during an emergency board meeting on Saturday evening.

Joel Glazer, United’s co-chairman, reportedly had the final say and decided it was in the club’s best interests to part company with Solskjaer.

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This is according to multiple sources including Duncan Castles of The Sunday Times, who broke the story of the meeting.

Fabrizio Romano claims the official statement, once compensation terms are agreed, will claim that this is a ‘mutual’ agreement between the club and Solskjaer.

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Zinedine Zidane is currently the favourite to become Man Utd’s next manager. There is also admiration within Old Trafford for Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino, Leicester City’s Brendan Rodgers and Erik ten Hag of Ajax.

Darren Fletcher 'to take temporary charge' of Man Utd 

However, The Telegraph and other outlets understand that Darren Fletcher is poised to take temporary charge of United for Tuesday’s match away at Villarreal.

The retired midfielder, 37, was announced as United’s technical director in March following stints with the academy and first-team coaching staff.

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Fletcher oversaw United’s warm-up at Vicarage Road on Saturday and is poised to lead United at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

Romano understands that Fletcher will be assisted by Michael Carrick. It’s unclear at this stage whether or not Mike Phelan will keep his role on the coaching staff and the same applies for Kieran McKenna.

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The appointment of Fletcher on a temporary basis would, according to The Telegraph, give United ‘some room for manoeuvre’ as they seek to appoint a permanent successor for Solskjaer.

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