Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is early. Of course he is early, he played for Sir Alex Ferguson for 12 years and nobody was ever late for him.
Ole is still in regular contact with The Gaffer and when he talks about Sir Alex the affection and admiration is obvious.
Ole tells us he has an hour and starts his metaphorical stopwatch as he signs for us again on a sunny morning in Edinburgh. Signing the 1999 Champions League Final shirt he reflects on how scoring the most memorable goal in Manchester United’s history changed his life, but not him as a person - stating after all that kick didn’t make him a better player.
Discussing the great players he played with he plumps for Roy Keane as the first name on his team sheet ahead of Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo. He cheekily credits his time as the forwards coach at Old Trafford for turning Ronaldo into the world’s best goal scorer.
He tells us that Jurgen Klopp invited him to Dortmund for a few days when he started management and how Jurgen greeted him enthusiastically as the man who slayed Bayern. Knowing that one of our team was a Liverpool fan he tells him “this is your year” before adding “but you say that every year!”
The signing is in stoppage time and Ole finishes with his full signature on a limited number of Solskjaer 20 shirts remarking that he normally only uses that one on his credit cards. He leaves with a smile, a handshake and a promise to see us again soon.
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