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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Full Name	Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Position	Centre Forward
Squad Number	20
Date of Birth	26th Feburary 1973
Place of Birth	Kristiansund Norway
Height	5' 10''
Weight	11st 6
United Debut	25/8/1996 (H) Blackburn
Transfer Fee	£1.5 million
International	35 Caps - 14 goals

Career History

Playing part time Third Division football in Norway for Clausenegen FK, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer moved to Premier League Molde in 1995. It was not long before he started to attract the interest of big clubs throughout Europe, dubbed the Norwegian Alan Shearer.

In the summer of 1996 Alex Ferguson paid a £1.5m fee for Solskjaer's services. Not expecting to be playing for United until the new year, Solskjaer found himself almost a permanent fixture in the first team, scoring on his debut against Blackburn and ending the season as top scorer with 19 goals, 18 of them in the League. Ole quickly became a firm favourite with the United faithful.

A full international for Norway, he won a League Championship medal in his first United season and helped United to the semi-final of the European Cup, United going out to German team Borussia Dortmund. He also represented Norway at the 1998 World Cup finals, playing in three matches before Norway where knocked out by Italy.

In 1997-98 he lost his place to the partnership of Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham, his absence mainly caused by injury. Had he played in more games it is likely United would have won the league instead of Arsenal (who capitalised on United's injury problems late in the season)

1998-99 was a strange season for Solskjaer. He was nearly sold to Spurs for £5.5 million, then scored 17 goals from only 17 starting appearances ( including 4 in ten minutes against Forest when he came on as sub in United's 8-1 away win). Then he goes and scores the winning goal in the last minute of the 1999 European Cup final, to go down as a legend in footballing folklore as in "Where were you when Solskjaer put the ball in the Germans net?"

Recent History
There can be no doubting the Norwegian's importance, with his many goals adding considerably to United's firepower. Ole always seems to be at his most lethal when coming off the subs bench, scoring late that year against Brondby, West Ham, Forest, Liverpool, and Bayern. His loyalty and willingness to sit on the bench as a super-sub, in the end was rewarded for, with the treble of trophies and a place in history.

Solskjaer couldn't hope to top his famous moment in the following season but he still was as lethal as ever in front of goal. Despite being constantly linked with a move to Spurs and only starting fifteen Premiership games his form was unaffected as he rattled in the goals again. Highlights would be the 4 he scored at home to Everton, the double against Sunderland and a brilliant volley from 30 yards at home to Sturm Graz.

The away game to Bordeaux was a classic Ole-United smash and grab, as he came off the bench with 5 minutes to go and scored a classic winner with virtually his first kick of the ball. Ferguson still seems to thinks Solskjaer is better coming off the bench when opposition legs are tiring and the records do seem to bear this out with his numerous late goals as sub.

In any other team he would be a first team starter but then Solskjaer knows that Manchester United are not any other team. He continued to score goals in 2000-2001, often paired alongside Teddy Sheringham with whom he is probably most effective with. Solskjaer scored a steady stream of goals throughout the season, again often coming off the bench. Ole's best moments where the late winner in the 2-1 over Charlton, a brace to sink Ipswitch and a late header to defeat Aston Villa 1-0 at Villa Park.