OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER

20. OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was born on 26th Feb, 1963 in Kristiansund, Norway.

When Alex Ferguson failed to sign Alan Shearer, he went to sign this unknown Norwegian striker. Ole Gunnar Solskjær had scored 31 goals in 42 matches for Molde F.K. in the Norwegian Premier League, and he did not disappoint at the start of his United career, scoring six minutes into his debut as a substitute against Blackburn in the Premiership.

Solskjær scored 18 Premiership goals for United in the first season helping United to the title in the last weeks of the season. The United fans nicknamed him the "Baby-Faced Assassin" because of his youthful looks and the deadly finishing.

A firm favourite with the United faithful, his performances during this season prompted his old manager at Molde to claim that if he had known he was going to be that successful he would have asked United for more money!

He has an ability as a super-sub as well, and gained praises for coming on and scoring four goals in the last seventeen minutes of United's 8-1 thrashing of Nottingham Forest.

Ole enjoys life at Old Trafford and didn't leave the club when a offer of £5.5m came from Tottenham, among others in 1998. United fans were mightily grateful, as the slightly built Norwegian went on to score the winning goal in the Champions League Final in 1999. He is a firm favourite, inspiring many songs from "Who put the ball in the German's net?" to (to the tune of You are my Sunshine) "You are my Solskjær."

He finally got the chance as a starter in 2001/02, alongside Ruud van Nistelrooy, and he took the chance with characteristic incisiveness, forcing Andrew Cole and Dwight Yorke onto the subs bench, in his usual place.

By 2002/03, both Andrew Cole and Dwight Yorke had left Old Trafford and Solskjær had only the hardly-prolific Diego Forlan to compete with for places, but Ferguson's persistence in playing van Nistelrooy up front on his own meant that opportunities were still limited.

However, he still got his chance when David Beckham picked up an injury and the versatile Norwegian was played on the right wing. He proved himself to be a fine crosser of the ball, and still managed to pop up with crucial goals, sixteen in total for the season. The high point of his campaign was almost certainly when he was selected on the right wing against Real Madrid while Beckham was left on the bench.

With the arrival of Fulham's Louis Saha in January 2004, Solskjær found himself ousted from the United First team and returning to his original 'supersub' mantle, or indeed moving to an attacking midfield position. However, the arrival of Alan Smith in the summer of 2004 led to rumours that he was to leave Old Trafford, touted as one of several names, along with Nicky Butt, who eventually went to Newcastle United and David Bellion offered as part-exchange for the impressive Wayne Rooney. He underwent intensive knee surgery in early August 2004 which has resulted in him being likely to miss the entire 04-05 Premiership season. Currently it is doubtful that the Old Trafford faithful will see him playing for United again, with United's heavyweight strike force and emerging midfield talents such as Darren Fletcher, Kieran Richardson and Chris Eagles.

To show Solskjær that he's not been forgotten while out injured, the United faithfull have added a banner to the famous collection that lines the Stretford End reading "20 Legend."

Solskjær recently became a patron of the fans action group Shareholders United which is dedicated to fighting the takeover of Manchester United.