Post-Brexit Rules Would Have Stopped Man Utd Hiring Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Post-Brexit restrictions that will be imposed on foreign managers and coaches as of 1 January would have stopped Manchester United from being able to hire Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with clubs now having to think more carefully about recruitment as the UK leaves the EU.

The UK Home Office seems perversely proud of ending freedom of movement, an enrichening privilege enjoyed for decades. Where football clubs are concerned, the EU benefits of signing overseas talents from the age of 16 will end, while any foreign signing is subject to gaining special endorsement through approval by a points-based system.

The changes to the transfer system will be in place for the upcoming January transfer window.

The restriction won’t stop at players, however, with The Times explaining that prospective managers and coaches must also tick certain entry requirements to be employed by UK clubs.

The new rules, agreed by the FA, Premier League and EFL and approved by the Home Office, mean any overseas manager or coach must have spent three of the previous five years working in a ‘top league’. There is a list of 33 accepted leagues from around the world that does still give a degree of flexibility, but Norway’s Eliteserien is not one of them, meaning Solskjaer wouldn’t have qualified.

The current United boss was in charge of Norwegian club Molde when he got the call from Old Trafford in December 2018 and had been for three years. His only other role in the five years before that had been a spell at Cardiff that lasted a little over eight months.

Norway is not part of the EU but does enjoy freedom of movement with EU members, meaning Solskjaer didn't need a special visa or work permit to get the job in Manchester.

The new rules could also exclude Premier League clubs from hiring young overseas coaches who may not have had the time to build up three years of work in a top league.

Arsenal would, presumably, still have been able to appoint Mikel Arteta because of his body of work. The Spaniard was not a manager in his own right, but had worked for just over three years as a member of Pep Guardiola’s backroom staff at Manchester City.

His long-term residency in England, 14 years unbroken by the time he was appointed Arsenal manager in December 2019, may also have worked in his favour under the new rules.

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