Mike Phelan has spent the international break back in Australia with the Central Coast Mariners as Manchester United had a two week break from fixtures.
Having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolves, United are not back in action again until Saturday when they host Watford at Old Trafford and Phelan has taken the opportunity to return to his other club.
Sir Alex Ferguson's former assistant returned to United in December upon the sacking of Jose Mourinho and when he was hired he was in a role as sporting director for Australian side Central Coast Mariners.
The 56-year-old will be back at United's Carrington training complex this week to prepare for the weekend's Premier League game and will have a decision to make on his involvement with the Australian side in the summer, should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be offered the job on a permanent basis.
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Training down under, spending the international break out in Auz @CCMariners @ALeague pic.twitter.com/UaZwfME80e
— Mike Phelan (@Mike_Phelan_1) March 22, 2019
“It’s just a case of how things develop over the next couple of months,” Phelan said on the FOX Football Podcast. " It’s a busy time for Manchester United obviously, but the season is coming to an end in Australia so I think once decisions are made back over in England then I think we’ll open those discussions again with the Mariners and hopefully the partnership can continue."
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United have just five players on international duty after five more - Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Nemanja Matic, Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku - had to withdraw from their respective camps with injuries.
Jesse Lingard, who wasn't called up for England duty due to his injury, is back in Manchester ready to report for training this week having spent the past week in Dubai working on his fitness.
