Bookmakers are giving odds of 3/1 (+300) on new permanent Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer winning the Premier League title at any stage during his reign.

The club legend was appointed on a full-time basis on Thursday after making a huge impression as interim manager following the sacking of Jose Mourinho last December.

The Norwegian, who spent 11 seasons as a player for the Red Devils, has turned United’s season around, closing the gap that his predecessor had left between themselves and the top four from 11 points to just two.

They were 10/1 (+1000) to finish in the top four, the minimum required to qualify for the lucrative Champions League, when he inherited Mourinho’s side, but now find themselves 6/5 (+120) contenders.

For United, it’s one step at a time as they continue their recovery from the Alex Ferguson era, having not won the Premier League title since his retirement at the end of the 2012-13 season.

At 8/1 (+800) to win the league next season, bookmakers deem the 2019-20 campaign a little too soon for Solskjaer to restore the club’s status as the best team in England, but with a three-year contract now signed he’s 3/1 (+300) to deliver the title at any stage while in charge.

Solskjaer scored arguably the most famous goal in United’s history – a last minute winner against Bayern Munich to win the Champions League in 1999 – and bookmakers offer a generous 10/1 (+1000) for him to replicate that success as a manager by winning Europe’s premier club competition with the same club.

They’re still in this year’s competition, of course, but they face the might of Lionel Messi and Barcelona in the quarter-finals, leaving them with odds of 3/1 (+300) to overcome in the last eight, making them 20/1 (+2000) outsiders in the outright betting.

United fans will already be looking to who Solskjaer could bring in during this summer’s transfer window, with Antoine Griezmann (3/1, +300), Jadon Sancho (4/1, +400) and Adrian Rabiot (12/1, +1200) all being linked with a move to Old Trafford.