‘By a mile’… Solskjaer names best finisher he ever played with, and says Man Utd had a player who was like Cantona

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In the 1998/99 season alone, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was part of a squad with three top class strikers.

Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke and Teddy Sheringham all competed with the Norwegian for game time, giving manager Sir Alex Ferguson a weekly dilemma.

Through his United career, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played alongside many more greats. These included Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. A young Diego Forlan even blossomed into a star elsewhere.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with The Overlap, Solskjaer discussed his favourite strike partner, and the best finisher he played alongside. And with all the stellar names, he was convinced on the latter.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer names ‘perfect partner’

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was a complete unknown when he signed for Manchester United from Molde back in 1996.

Surprisingly, he made an instant impact, scoring 18 Premier League goals in 33 games in his first season at Old Trafford.

Regretfully, this turned out to be the only season he played with Eric Cantona, who retired at aged 30 at the end of the season.

He left a big impact on Solskjaer, who believed he was perfectly matched to mesh with the iconic Frenchman.

Solskjaer explained: “Cantona was the perfect partner for me.

“My first season, only Alan [Shearer] and Ian Wright scored more than me in my first season and stopped me getting any top scorer award. Cantona was perfect when I was young, I had more legs.”

Solskjaer names best finisher he played with

When it comes to the best out and out finisher Solskjaer played alongside, he was in absolutely no doubt that it is Ruud van Nistelrooy, despite the esteemed competition.

Solskjaer said: “Later on, playing with Ruud was nice. Ruud’s the best finisher I played with, by a mile.”

This is a sentiment shared by former club captain Roy Keane, who also named Van Nistelrooy as the best finisher he played alongside during his long and successful career.

Solskjaer enjoyed Teddy Sheringham partnership

The other striker Solskjaer particularly enjoyed playing alongside was Teddy Sheringham, even though this was a partnership which became better known for playing second fiddle to Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke.

The pair often ended up competing for minutes, rather than playing together, although their Champions League final contribution from the bench in 1999 is never to be forgotten.

Solskjaer said he liked playing with Sheringham, because from a positional sense, it allowed him to operate in the same way he did when aligned with Cantona.

He explained: “Teddy was a top partner to have. He was similar to Cantona.

“He could play a different role, I could play higher, the number nine, he’s more of a 9.5/10, call it whatever you want now, with Ruud I was more of a ‘drop in the 10 and play him through’.”

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