It was October 2019 when Darren Fletcher sat in San Carlo, an Italian restaurant in Manchester city centre and manifested what is now his. Briefly, at least.
Having finished off his bruschetta, Fletcher was unequivocal when asked what his ultimate dream was.
‘My goal is to become Manchester United manager – that’s the pinnacle for me,’ he said on the club’s in-house podcast. ‘Nothing tops that. Nothing is bigger.’
This wasn’t pie-in-the-sky talking. Fletcher was under no illusion how much needed to fall into place to make that dream a reality but here we are, the first week of 2026 and Fletcher will wake up on Tuesday morning to lead training as Manchester United’s interim manager, ahead of taking charge for the trip to Burnley.
Fletcher previously had doubts about whether the trials and tribulations of management would ultimately be worth it. The intensity, the ruthlessness of it all, the scrutiny on not just himself but also on his family given he has twin sons (Jack and Tyler) in academy football, now both at United under his purview.
So, for years Fletcher chipped away at coaching badges in the background, eager to keep all of his options open. Eventually the management itch just became something he had to scratch.
Darren Fletcher has stepped up as Manchester United interim manager after Ruben Amorim (right) was sacked on Monday morning
Fletcher, 41, has moved from Under 18s head coach to the top job at Old Trafford
United’s hierarchy of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox have lost patience with Amorim and now Fletcher has the reins for the foreseeable future
‘I need to put myself through it, I need to try it,’ he once said. ‘It’s something I feel like I could be good at. You’ll never be fully ready when you make the jump to management, when you get the opportunity, but I want to be as ready as possible.
‘I love football, love everything to do with it. I’m like a sponge and I want to absorb as much information as possible. Football is constantly changing, people are constantly changing, and you have to be relevant, have to stick with the times but also stick with those old school values.’
Within minutes of news breaking that Ruben Amorim had been sacked by Omar Berrada at Carrington on Monday morning, one source close to the Under 18s team got in touch.
‘Manchester United don’t need a coach right now, they need a good person,’ the source said. ‘Players need to be able to play with attacking freedom again, play in the Man United way, and Darren will allow them to do that.’
The thing about Fletcher that has struck people at United, beyond being the quintessential club man, has been both his work ethic and his people skills.
‘He treats everyone equally, that’s one of his greatest assets,’ one training ground source explained. ‘He is a huge believer in working hard – no doubt he’ll be expecting even more from his sons now – and he’s just incredibly popular with staff.’
There were more than a few raised eyebrows when Fletcher stepped away from the first-team setup at the end of the season to take his first management role leading the Under 18s. The general consensus inside Carrington was that he would prove a huge loss for the first team given he understood United’s DNA in a way that Amorim’s staff could not.
Fletcher was key last season as a conduit between the academy and first team. Amorim, and particularly director of football Jason Wilcox, leaned on him in management meetings to understand which players coming through could step up to first-team training and matchday squads.
As a player, Fletcher learned under Sir Alex Ferguson for 11 years, before going on to play for the likes of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal
Fletcher came back to United as Under 16s boss in 2020 before rising up the first-team staff as an assistant to first Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Ralf Rangnick (right)
He was appointed technical director before being replaced by Wilcox in April 2024
Fletcher was consulted, too, on whether the academy needed to mirror the formation and style of the first team. He, along with Wilcox, Amorim and former academy boss Nick Cox, were unanimous that that would not be necessary and 4-3-3 would continue to be academy sides’ formation of choice.
So when Fletcher took the Under 18s job in the summer after Adam Lawrence’s departure there was excitement, not least among parents and agents in United’s academy sides, from whom there had been grumblings of discontent for some time. They claimed that the general level of coaching at United was not on par with many of their rivals.
Those who have worked with Fletcher speak of detailed training sessions that are mirrors of a first team environment. He is intense because he knows the levels required to make it at United, and is often quizzed on players he played with – what was Rooney like? What was Ronaldo like?
‘We showed them old clips of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ji-Sung Park, the counter-attack goals, and Ryan Giggs and Andrei Kanchelskis, trying to show a bit of that Man United DNA,’ Fletcher explained earlier this season, and he is known to have spoken at length with 15-year-old wonderkid JJ Gabriel about Ronaldo, and what it takes to become a star.
His man management skills were not lost on those high up.
Wilcox was a driving force in Fletcher’s appointment in the summer. The pair have similar ideas for how they saw a United team playing – something that will be a welcome bonus after the fallout over Amorim’s style of play.
Fletcher’s young charges, who sit second in the Under 18s Premier League behind rivals City, play in Wilcox’s preferred 4-3-3, with a sitting midfielder flanked by two box-to-box No 8s. Typically Jim Thwaites anchors the team, with Amir Ibragimov, Jay McEvoy and Jariyah Shah all playing more advanced. Immediately this would suggest Kobbie Mainoo is a big winner.
Fletcher has also shown an appetite to play with a No 10, a false No 9 or even a fluid front three of inverted wingers.
Kobbie Mainoo could stand to benefit the most from Fletcher, who prefers a 4-3-3 with two No 8s, replacing Amorim
Fletcher has worked hard with United’s biggest young talents, including 15-year-old forward JJ Gabriel
He is able to call on the expertise of playing with some of United’s greatest ever players, including Cristiano Ronaldo
Gabriel has played right across the front and played in a No 10 role in the FA Youth Cup win at Old Trafford against Peterborough United late last year. Promising youngsters such as Yuel Helafu have been deployed in multiple positions to further their development.
‘If teams want to come and have a go at us, and try to press, we’ve got the ability to play around them, and if they want to leave a high line, we can be devastating,’ Fletcher said after a Youth Cup game against Brighton this season.
‘It’s enjoying the challenge of the different things Brighton brought today and it’s about us giving the players that beforehand, but then the players recognising it and solving problems themselves.’
Fletcher is very focused on player development at youth level, rather than solely on results. He works incredibly hard and expects the same in return. Players who don’t match up to that just won’t play.
Daily Mail Sport revealed earlier this season how Fletcher returned to the training ground to get back to work just 24 hours after having an operation on his knee, having sustained cartilage damage in the United Legends match against Celtic.
In recent weeks it has been noteworthy to see Fletcher dipping into the Under 21s setup too. Under 21s assistant Alan Wright has been dealing with a personal problem for the past few weeks and Fletcher has filled in on the bench alongside Travis Binnion, who Daily Mail Sport understands is under strong consideration to be on the bench with Fletcher at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.
Joining up with the Under 21s broke the one rule Fletcher was trying to uphold and that was to not direct manage his two sons. It will be fascinating to see whether he selects them on the bench on Wednesday night at Burnley.
Both sons swapped over from City’s academy in 2023, with England Under 19s international Jack breaking into the first team in recent weeks, playing his first three matches. Tyler, a fellow midfielder, represents Scotland.
Fletcher joined United’s academy in 1995 from Celtic Boys Club, going on to make 342 appearances, scoring 24 goals and winning nine major honours including five league titles
His twin sons Jack (left) and Tyler are in United’s academy, with the former making his first three appearances for the first team this season
Fletcher may not be around long enough to bring the glory days back at United, but he can at least start to rid the club of the bad feeling lingering around the place
Fletcher will want to attack at Burnley on Wednesday night, and inject some life back into a club reeling from another failed managerial reign. But his Under 18s have conceded fewer goals – just 11 in 14 games – than any other side in their division this season. Don’t expect kamikaze football for the sake of entertainment.
In the Manchester United ex-players WhatsApp group, messages were flying in with congratulations and well wishes.
They have seen the struggles he went through after he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a chronic bowel disease, in 2011. They have seen him undergo surgery at Salford Royal hospital, fight his way back into the reckoning as a player, and now work his way up to lead out the side he made 342 appearances for.
With so much work to get through ahead of Wednesday night’s trip to Burnley, the suggestion was that Fletcher’s phone would remain on do not disturb for the foreseeable. After all, he’s got a lot of work to do.