Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would be open to returning to Manchester United as manager, admitting he "would say yes every day of the week" if the possibility arose.

Solskjaer was dismissed by the Red Devils in November 2021 after just under three years in charge at Old Trafford.

The Norwegian, who initially replaced Jose Mourinho on an interim basis in December 2018, led United to a second-place Premier League finish in the 2020-21 season, but a run of six defeats in 11 matches culminated in his departure.

Erik ten Hag - the man who permanently succeeded him at Old Trafford - has come under increasing pressure following a difficult start to this term, which has brought just three wins from the Red Devils' opening eight games.

And Solskjaer, who has worked as a technical observer for UEFA since leaving the club, refused to rule out a second stint in charge if called upon.

"If the family [United] asks, I would say yes every day of the week," he said during a Q&A at the Oslo Business Forum.

"It feels wrong to talk about jobs that other people have now, but I would say yes, of course."

With Norway coach Stale Solbakken expected to step down at the end of their 2026 World Cup campaign, Solskjaer admitted he would also be tempted by the opportunity to take charge of his nation.

"I am a proud Norwegian," he added. "Of course, if the question arises - when Stale decides to give up - I will happily engage in discussions."

Mikel Arteta confirmed Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard will be out "for a while" after suffering a significant ankle injury while playing for Norway.

The 25-year-old hobbled off during his country's Nations League 2-1 win over Austria in Oslo on September 9 and returned to London on crutches.

Odegaard missed Sunday's 1-0 derby victory against Tottenham and Arteta revealed the bad news on the midfielder ahead of Arsenal's opening Champions League game away to Atalanta.

"The scans showed that he's got some damage especially on one of the ligaments in the ankle," the Arsenal manager said on Wednesday.

"It's something quite significant so we're going to lose him for a while."

Arteta, whose side are second in the league and two points behind Manchester City, said he hoped it would not be months "but let's see".

Odegaard has become a key player for Arsenal, missing only a handful of games over the last three seasons, and a lengthy absence will come as a huge blow.

"He's our captain. He's been one of the biggest and best players in our team," continued Arteta.

"Our identity is very linked to how he plays and behaves. It's a big test for the team to see how able we are to show a different face."

Norway coach Stale Solbakken told VG newspaper he had been fully updated about the injury and was "preparing for a life without Martin".

"We have to take it week by week and day by day. Some types of damage go faster and some go slower," he said.

Stale Solbakken has announced he is likely to step down as Norway head coach when his contract expires after the 2026 World Cup campaign.

The former midfielder took over the national side in 2020 with the hopes of returning Norway to a major tournament. However, he has been unable to qualify for one despite having players like Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard among his ranks.

Norway finished third in their qualification group for Euro 2024, six points below Scotland, having only won three of their eight matches.

With the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico coming up in 2026, Solbakken's sights are set on playing on the world stage for the first time since France 1998, but he says his time with the national team will not extend beyond that if they do qualify.

"I'll take this qualification now and then there's a high probability that I'll do something else after that regardless," he told reporters on Monday, adding he will remain in charge if Norway qualify for the World Cup and step down after the finals.

"While I'm still young and virile, I want to do something else too - I've said no to a number of club jobs that really tempted me, but I'm determined to make one last attempt here, and then I think that's it.

"I really enjoy being with the boys, but there are far too few [international] matches. The last seven or eight months have been a nightmare with four friendly games, and the last two leading into the boys' summer holidays."

Solbakken was part of Norway's squad in 1998 when they reached the last 16, and at Euro 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium, Norway's last appearance at a major finals, as they failed to make it out of the group. 

Qualification for the 2026 World Cup begins in either March or June 2025, depending on the upcoming Nations League results, with Norway starting their League B Group 3 campaign against Kazakhstan on Friday.

Stale Solbakken admits it was a “big blow” to lose Erling Haaland for Sunday’s dead-rubber Euro 2024 qualifier against Scotland at Hampden – but the Norway manager is confident the Manchester City striker’s injury is not a serious one.

The free-scoring forward withdrew from the squad on Saturday morning after damaging his ankle in the second-half of Thursday’s 2-0 friendly win over Faroe Islands.

“It’s a big blow for any team but we have played without him before, sometimes with success, sometimes without,” said Solbakken, speaking at Hampden on Saturday evening.

“We started the qualification when he was not ready for the first two games, but after that he has played every single game so it was unfortunate for us that he got the small knock on Thursday.

“It’s the movement in his foot that is the problem but it’s not a serious injury. Had it been a final, I don’t know (if he would have been fit to play).

“All parties agree it is probably a little too early (for him to play) but it is not a career-threatening injury.”

When asked why Haaland – a talisman for club and country – was risked in such a low-key match, Solbakken said: “It was his choice. He wanted to play 45 minutes to keep the momentum in a week where we were maybe not training as much. It was his decision.

“There were three players who have played many games and we had conversations with all three of them and Erling’s much preferred choice was to play 45 minutes.”

Many anticipated Sunday’s match being a qualification decider but Scotland’s 2-1 win in Oslo in June, when they scored two goals in the closing minutes to overturn Haaland’s penalty, has proved pivotal.

The Scots are already assured of a place in the finals in Germany and are six points ahead of third-placed Norway, who have only a slim chance of landing a play-off if results elsewhere go their way.

“It was probably the sorest defeat you will ever feel,” said Solbakken, recalling Scotland’s late turnaround in the summer. “I still wake up at night thinking about those last five minutes but that is life.

“If you look back now, those five minutes were very, very damaging. Otherwise the game tomorrow would have been a final. That speaks volumes.

“But we must congratulate Scotland on a great campaign. They have done really, really well, not only in this campaign but also in the years before that.

“They’ve played at a very high level and have also been good at bringing the margins on their side in tight games, which is very important in national football when there are so few games.”

Unless they manage to salvage a Euro 2024 place via a play-off, Norway’s run without major tournament football will extend to 26 years. The Scots ended a 23-year wait when they qualified for the Euros in 2021 and Solbakken feels his nation can draw inspiration from Steve Clarke’s resurgent side.

“Of course we can,” he said. “I think we are quite even. We always play very tight games against each other but they have been better than us with the small margins lately. We need to see if we can find that way too.”

Norway manager Stale Solbakken joked that if Jack Grealish could train for England then he has no cause to worry about Erling Haaland’s treble celebrations ahead of Saturday’s clash with Scotland.

Solbakken understood the need for Haaland to revel in his success with Manchester City after last weekend’s Champions League final.

Solbakken has taken it easy with Haaland this week, more concerned with ensuring the striker recharges, and believes a homecoming welcome will lift his star man during the Euro 2024 qualifier in Oslo.

City celebrated in Ibiza after their Istanbul success against Inter before continuing the party on a bus parade in Manchester on Monday with Grealish throwing himself wholeheartedly into the fun.

When asked what the Norwegian people made of the scenes ahead of a big international, Solbakken said: “I think everyone understands that and I also think it’s a good idea to do that.

“Because, no matter how good you are, if you say (Pep) Guardiola is the best manager in the world and he has managed to do this treble once in Spain, once time in England, even when he had the best players representing the biggest clubs with the biggest budgets, you could think this would happen more often. But it doesn’t because it’s so, so difficult.

“And I don’t think you can postpone a celebration like that. You can’t say ‘let’s meet up in the summer when these national games are over and we party’. It’s not the same because the excitement is a little bit out of your body and you have to do it then.

“When he came here, he didn’t look like he had gone the Grealish way. If Grealish managed to train for England the first time, he should also manage to do it for us.”

Only one of Haaland’s 53 goals this season has come on the international stage but the 22-year-old has not played for his country since September and Solbakken believes an excited home crowd will help him overcome his heavy schedule.

“The biggest gift in that is the love the crowd will give him because it’s a long time since he has played in Norway and he didn’t participate in the two internationals earlier this year,” the former Wolves and Copenhagen manager said.

“Obviously the Norwegian people have seen him on telly for a long time without seeing him live. I think he has had one game here in a year.

“So that will probably pump him up and give him the five to 10 per cent he probably lacks due to the programme he has been through and all the feelings and emotions he has been through as well.”

Haaland was missed in March as Norway took one point from their opening two Group A games against Spain and Georgia, while Scotland sealed maximum return.

On the game, Solbakken said: “It’s more crucial for us than Scotland of course but no matter what, before the group started, this would always have been a key game.

“But it’s more that Scotland have had a really great start. I think we played two really good games but what messed it up a little bit, even though we only got one point, is that Scotland beat Spain.

“That means it looks much better for us if we can beat you and everyone is beating each other. If we win, also Spain are in trouble, because it’s two teams who can catch them.”