Quick Facts about Ole Gunnar
| Full Name | Ole Gunnar Solskjær |
| Place of Birth | Kristiansund, Norway |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Height | 1.78 m |
| Current Team | Manchester United (Manager) |
| Last Team as a Player | Manchester United |
| Position | Foward |
Ole Gunnar Solskjær, from being a successful player to being the outstanding manager of the same club. Read more and get to know how a failed recovery injury transformed Ole Gunnar from a player to a manager.
Who Is Ole Gunnar Solskjær?
Ole Gunnar Solskjær born in 1973, is a Norwegian professional football coach and a former player who played as a striker. Currently, he is the manager of Manchester United, a Premier League Club. Ole Gunnar was previously playing for Manchester United where he joined the club in 1996, in a transfer fee of worth £1.5 million. At the time he joined Manchester, he was dubbed “the Baby-faced Assassin”. Ole Gunnar, made 336 appearances for Manchester United and scored 126 goals.
During his time as a player, he was seen as “super sub” for always coming off the substitute bench to score late goals. He spent 11 years of his career with Manchester United before retiring in 2007 after he failed to recover from a serious knee injury. After retiring he remained at Manchester United as an assisting coach and an ambassadorial capacity.
Ole Gunnar was then made the reserved team manager in 2008, still in Manchester. Three years later he went back to Norway in 2011 to be the new manager of his former club Molde. His performance at Molde was magnificent as he led the team to their two first-ever Tippeligaen titles in his first two seasons. In 2013, he helped the club to win the Norwegian Football Cup Final. Moreover, Ole Gunnar managed the club for only three years before moving to Cardiff City in 2014, where he managed for four years.
However, the Cardiff thing was not that well as they were relegated from the Premier League. In 2018, he was selected to manage Manchester United as a caretaker manager taking over from his predecessor Jose Mourinho until the end of the 2018-19 season. His performance as a caretaker was outstanding and he signed a three-year contract with the club on March 28, 2019.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Background
He was born in Kristiansund, More of Romsdal, while growing up he admired being like his father who was a wrestler. Ole Gunnar went ahead and trained as a Greco-Roman Wrestler, however, he later gave up after being tossed around. At the age of seven, he decided to follow his dream by joining a local team by the name of Clausenengen. While growing up he supported Liverpool.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Age
He was born on February 26th, 1973 and he is 48 years as of 2021.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Family and Parents
He is the son of Øyvind and Brita Solskjær.His father was a Greco-Roman wrestler, however much is not known about his mother, in case of any information concerning his mother, we will update it as soon as possible.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Wife
He is happily married to Silje Solskjaer, who is also a former football player, the two lovebirds were born in the same village. However, they have managed to keep information about their love life private.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Kids
He has three kids, Noah, Karna, and Elijah. Moreover, his son Noah is a footballer currently signed by Kristiansund but currently, he is on loan in Sogndal Fotball where he plays as a midfielder. In addition, Karna is also a footballer playing for the Manchester United WFC Academy team.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Net Worth
He is one of the richest coaches in British football with an estimated worth of around £10 million.
Career
Professional Career
Ole Gunnar began his career as a footballer in 1990 at the age of 17, making his first debut with Clausenengen (CFK). With Clausenengen (CFK) he made 109 appearances and scored 115 goals, for five years he played under the club. After that, he moved to Molde on February 14th, 1995 before the start of the 1995 season. With Molde he made his first debut on April 22, 1995, in addition, he also scored his first goal for the club the same day he debuted, scoring twice.
Ole Gunnar played his first European game on August 10th, 1995, for UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup against Dinamo Minsk. Ole Gunnar played for Molde for only one year before moving to Manchester United, in 1996. Prior to his signing, the club manager had made an offer to both Everton and Machester City to take Ole Gunnar at £1.2 million. However, both teams didn’t afford to pay such an amount for Ole Gunnar. Manchester United came in with an offer of £1.5 million during the Euro 1996 and Molde could not resist the offer. he made his last appearance for Molde on 21st July 1996 in a 5-1 win where he scored the fourth goal.
Manchester United
Ole Gunnar moved to Manchester United on July 29, 1996, ahead of the 1996-1997 season. At the time Manchester was being headed by Sir Alex Ferguson. It was his first time playing for a Premier League Club and coming from a little-known club, many people underestimated his potential. When he joined most people thought he would be a backup to Eric Cantona and Andy Cole. However, after appearing in a few matches it was clear that he was going to be a main character in the first team. In addition, his outstanding performance established him as one of the biggest Premier League bargains of the season.
He made his first debut on 25th August 1996, wearing a No. 20 shirt which he retained in his 11years career at the club. In addition, he scored his first goal six minutes after he came in as a substitute against Blackburn Rovers the same day of his debut. Moreover, in 1998 he declined an offer to join Tottenham Hotspur for £5.5 million, despite Manchester United accepting the bid.
Injury and Retirement
During the 2003-04 season, he got a knee injury which forced him to stay away until 2004 February. After playing the 2004 FA Cup Final, In August he was forced to undergo knee surgery and he missed the entire 2004-05 season. He came back to the field on 5 December 2005. Ole Gunnar, confirmed that he set to undergo minor surgery.
Moreover, the surgery came after he had discomfort in his knee while training with Norway. The surgery was a success, however, it failed to fully recover and he had no other option other than announcing his retirement on August 27th, 2007, after an 11year career in Manchester. In 2008, August a testimonial game was played in his honor where almost 69,000 fans attended setting a record as the second-highest-attended testimonial in British history.
Career As a Coach
After retiring as a footballer in 2007, he announced he was going to train as a coach. In 2008, he took over the Manchester United Reserve during that summer. He won his first manchester Senior Cup on 12th, May 2009 after defeating Bolton Wanderers 1-0. After that, he moved to his country to coach his former club Molde, prior to that he had been offered a chance to take over as the new Norwegian national team coach. However, he declined the offer claiming it was not the right time for him to lead the team.
With Molde he signed a four-year contract, taking full responsibility for the club on November 9th, 2010. He managed to help the club to win the 2013 Norwegian Football Cup and it was their third win since he took over.
Move to Cardiff and return to Molde
After his contract with Molde ended, Ole Gunner decided to move to Cardiff City on January 2nd, 2014. However, despite winning his first game, Cardiff ended the season 20th with 7 wins and 30 points. As a result of the team-low performance, Ole Gunner departed the Club on 18th September 2014. He then returned to Molde on 21st October 2015, signing a three and half-year contract.
Manchester United
Ole Gunner was called to Manchester to serve as a caretaker manager after the departure of Jose Mourinho on 19th, December 2018. He was supposed to return to Molde in May 2019 since he had extended his contract with the club. However, according to him, he outlined that if he was to return to Molde he was supposed to sign a new contract. His suggestion was declined by the Molde Manager Oysten Neerland and expected him to return to the club at the end of the English Season.
His performance in that season was on another level as he managed to win his first five games. In addition, he also won the Premier League Manager of the Month for January 2019. Winning the award he became the first Manchester manager to win the award since Alex Ferguson in October 2012. Following his 14 wins out of 19 games, he signed a three-year contract with Manchester United, becoming the new Manchester United manager.