Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been out of management since November and his return to it will be prolonged after he turned down the opportunity to become Iran’s next manager.
Solskjaer was sacked as Manchester United boss last November after a woeful 4-1 defeat at Watford in their Premier League as their miserable season continued to head towards a downward spiral.
According to Foot Mercato, the 49-year-old was offered a route back into the managerial dugout via Iran but has decided against taking the job due to other commitments.
The publication claim that Iran ‘appreciated Solskjaer’s profile’ but he declined their advances due to having ‘short-term priorities’ elsewhere.
Iran are on the lookout for a new manager after sacking head coach Dragan Skocic on Monday.
With little more than four months to go to the World Cup finals in Qatar – which Iran have qualified for – Skocic was given his marching orders.
The move comes after the 53-year-old, who took over from Marc Wilmots as coach in February 2020, secured the Iranians a spot at the World Cup by topping their qualification group ahead of South Korea.
The Croatian won 15 of his 18 games in charge but has lost two of his last three matches, including a 2-1 friendly defeat by Algeria in Qatar last month. However, they are Asia’s top-ranked team in the FIFA world rankings at No 23.
Current Oman boss Branko Ivankovic, who led Iran to the World Cup finals in Germany in 2006, has been linked with the role as well as former Bayern Munich striker Ali Daei and ex-Osasuna midfielder Javad Nekounam.
Iran will be appearing at the World Cup for the sixth time in the country’s history and on a third consecutive occasion.
They have been drawn in Group B and will kick off their campaign against England on November 21 before taking on Wales and the United States.
