'Is it April Fools' Day?' - Luis Enrique responds to Man Utd links following Solskjaer's sacking

Spain manager Luis Enrique has rubbished rumours linking him with Manchester United following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking.

Solskjaer was relieved of his managerial duties on Sunday, having overseen a poor start to the 2021-22 campaign which has seen United lose five of their opening 12 games, including a 4-1 reversal at Watford on Saturday.

A number of potential successors have already been mooted, with Enrique reportedly among the frontrunners having been identified as a standout candidate by Red Devils talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.

Enrique, who has been in charge of the Spain national team since 2018, has quickly moved to shut down the talk of a potential switch to Old Trafford.

Asked to address reports that he is in line to replace Solskjaer, Enrique told La Sexta: "Is it April Fools' Day today?"

Manchester United's next manager should be ____________ pic.twitter.com/oHcDxQ0bpT

— GOAL (@goal) November 21, 2021

The 51-year-old also delivered a tongue-in-cheek response when pressed on whether he would want to go to a club as big as United, adding: “I’m already in the biggest team in Spain with 5,000 players.”

Former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is reportedly next on United's shortlist, followed closely by Ajax's Erik ten Hag.

The club have announced that they will be appointing an interim manager until the end of the season, with Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers also reported to be in the frame.

Rodgers distanced himself from the position last week, though, and was forced to address speculation once again after his side's 3-0 loss to Chelsea on Saturday.

He dismissed the suggestion that Leicester were affected by the United reports, telling a post-match press conference: "No, not at all. I said in the week that it’s nothing, it wasn’t real and I spoke to our players on that. Absolutely nothing to do with it."