“Is it April fool’s day?” - Luis Enrique emphatically shuts down Manchester United rumors

Spanish national team manager Luis Enrique has hilariously put down rumors of a potential switch to English giants Manchester United.

The Manchester United hierarchy finally lost patience with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after their latest poor defeat, this time against 17th placed Watford. The Hornets moved as high as 16th while Manchester United are still 7th and under threat of dropping to 9th before the weekend ends.

Ole has been replaced by assistant coach and fellow United legend Michael Carrick, who is expected to be the interim manager until the club appoints a long-term replacement. Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has been linked with the job alongside Frenchman Zinedine Zidane.

While fans will be hoping for the latter due to multiple reasons, Luis Enrique has also been linked in recent times with the job. Sky Sports has reported that Cristiano Ronaldo is “keen on” the Spanish manager to replace Ole, although Enrique appears to have no intentions of moving to Old Trafford.

When quizzed about the potential move by Spanish media, Enrique had a hilarious response:

“Is it April fools day today? I’m already in the biggest team in Spain with 5,000 players.”

Needless to say, both fans and Manchester United’s board will not be too keen to approach the Spaniard after the above response.

Did Manchester United make the right move by sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer?

Some of the club’s support had been calling for Ole’s head since a number of weeks. The team reverted comprehensively after finishing 2nd in EPL last season despite a number of improvements.

Considering Ole’s record and CV before taking up the United job, quite a few fans were not too surprised with the team’s struggles over the course of the season thus far.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer arrived to manage a highly-unsettled Manchester United squad and was able to safeguard the futures of most of their top players. Since his arrival, the squad has undergone a considerable overhaul with multiple big-name signings being added.

At the start of the season, most fans were under the impression that Ole only needed a world-class CDM and a long-term striker to replace Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani in the years to come. However, it appears to be the lack of tactical nous and game-plan at Manchester United that ultimately resulted in Ole being sacked.

This season, not one football fan could accuse Manchester United’s squad of not being good enough on paper to compete with the best teams in world football. Ole’s struggles over the last few months have led to the acceptance that he is simply not good enough tactically to take the team to the next level.

While the circumstances in which he has left are obviously a problem, fans will remember his impact on the club as a player. The overall culture at Manchester United also improved after Ole's arrival. While the club’s hierarchy was simply left with no choice but to sack the Norwegian, he was given more than a fair share of chances.

More importantly, Solskjaer has left United in better shape for the future than arguably even Sir Alex Ferguson, let alone the managers who were since brought in to replace him.