Ipswich Town Eyes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Manager

Ipswich Town’s first summer back among the elite was never supposed to start like this. A manager adored, gone. A vacancy at Portman Road. And now, a headline name at the top of the shortlist.

According to reports, Ipswich are weighing up a bold move for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as they search for the man to lead them into the Premier League. The Norwegian has been off the radar since leaving Besiktas last summer, but he is understood to be keen on a fresh challenge in England and a route back into top-level management.

For a club riding the high of back‑to‑back promotions, it would be a striking appointment.

From Old Trafford to Portman Road?

Solskjaer’s name still carries weight in English football. He spent three years in the Manchester United dugout, guiding the club to a second‑place finish in the 2020–21 Premier League season and coming within touching distance of silverware in Europe.

The potential link to Ipswich is not just about profile. It is about lineage.

Kieran McKenna, the man who just dragged the Tractor Boys from League One to the Premier League in two breathless seasons, was once Solskjaer’s assistant at Old Trafford. The two worked side by side in Manchester, sharing ideas, training pitches and late‑night debriefs. Now, with McKenna gone, Ipswich could turn back to his former boss to continue the story.

It would be a neat thread: the mentor following the protégé, inheriting a squad built in part on ideas they once forged together.

O’Neil in the frame

Solskjaer is not the only name on the boardroom table.

Gary O’Neil, currently in charge at Strasbourg, is also under serious consideration. His stock has risen sharply in recent seasons. At Bournemouth, he steadied a club many expected to sink. At Wolves, he impressed again, organising and energising a side that often punched above its weight.

There is another connection here. O’Neil already knows Ipswich chief executive Mark Ashton from their time together at Bristol City. That familiarity, that shorthand, matters when a club is trying to make the right call at a critical moment.

Strasbourg do not want to lose him. O’Neil only arrived in France in January, and the club see him as central to their plans. But the pull of a Premier League dugout, with a newly promoted side buzzing and ambitious, is a powerful lure for any young manager.

McKenna’s shock exit

All of this is playing out against the backdrop of a departure that has rocked the fanbase.

McKenna’s decision to step down, just weeks after securing promotion, landed like a punch to the gut at Portman Road. Supporters had dreamed of seeing him lead Ipswich out on opening day in the Premier League, the architect of their revival taking the next step with them.

Instead, at 40, he has chosen to walk away and recharge.

There were heavy links to the Fulham job, and speculation swirled about his next move, but McKenna moved to cool that noise. In his farewell statement, he said: “I feel this is the right time for me to step aside. I do so with great pride at the incredible progress we have made and with huge hope and optimism for the future of the club.”

He leaves behind more than warm words. Under his watch, Ipswich climbed from the depths of League One back to the top division, becoming the first club since Southampton in 2012 to achieve consecutive promotions from the third tier to the Premier League. That kind of ascent changes expectations overnight.

The new man will not be walking into a patient, low‑pressure project. He will be stepping into a whirlwind.

A proving ground for Solskjaer

For Solskjaer, Ipswich would represent something very different from Manchester United’s unforgiving spotlight.

Since leaving Old Trafford in 2021, he has chosen his moments carefully. A period out of the game, then a brief spell in Turkey with Besiktas. At one stage last season, he was even reportedly discussed as a candidate to return to United, before the club opted for Michael Carrick as they looked for a fresh direction.

Ipswich offers another kind of stage. A club on the rise, a fanbase reawakened, a squad that has learned how to handle pressure and win when it matters. The scrutiny would still be intense, but the environment would be less suffocating than the constant storm at Old Trafford.

For a manager looking to reassert his credentials in the Premier League, it is a rare opening.

Momentum to protect

Inside Portman Road, the message is clear: the next appointment cannot simply be a big name. It has to be the right fit for a team that has surged forward at breakneck speed.

The core of this Ipswich squad has already shown it can handle promotion races, expectation, and high‑stakes run‑ins. They have earned the right to test themselves against the best, and they will expect a manager who can match their ambition and energy.

Whether it is Solskjaer stepping back into the English spotlight or O’Neil swapping Strasbourg for Suffolk, the task is the same: protect the momentum McKenna built, sharpen a squad that knows how to win, and prove that Ipswich Town are not just passing through the Premier League.

The next name on the manager’s door will tell the rest of the division exactly how serious they are.