Alan Shearer may never admit it publicly, but there must be a part of him that regrets not taking up Sir Alex Ferguson's offer to join Manchester United in the summer of 1996.
While his decision to leave Blackburn Rovers for his boyhood club Newcastle United had all the hallmarks of being a fairytale, Shearer would retire in 2006 having not won a major trophy at St James' Park. In contrast, Ferguson's alternative signing - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - won most of the medals that the game has to offer.
Little was known of the Norwegian striker when he arrived at Old Trafford 18 years ago today from Molde for a fee of £1.5m. At the age of 23 and with minimal experience of playing football at the highest level, it was anticipated that Solskjaer would have to operate as second fiddle behind Eric Cantona and Andy Cole.
However, in his debut campaign in England, he would earn the nickname 'The Baby-Faced Assassin' as his 18 goals helped United to retain their Premier League title.
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He would find himself used regularly as a substitute in the four seasons that followed, but that did not prevent him from scoring some important goals. He found the net four times away at Nottingham Forest in an 18-minute period in 1999, but he will forever be regarded as a United legend for his role in helping the club to win that year's Champions League.
Teddy Sheringham's late equaliser against Bayern Munich in the Camp Nou appeared to have sent the fixture into extra time, but when the veteran centre-forward rose highest to flick on David Beckham's corner, Solskjaer was on hand to divert the ball into the roof of the German side's net, securing an unprecedented treble for United in the process.
He went on to feature more regularly from that point, although from 2003 onwards, persistent knee injuries started to take hold. He missed the entire 2004-05 term and despite making a recovery, he was never quite the same player.
It meant that in 2007 and at the age of 34, it came as little surprise when Solskjaer announced his retirement from the game, having scored 126 goals from his 366 appearances for the Red Devils.
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"I would like to thank manager Sir Alex Ferguson, the coaching and medical staff and most of all the supporters. They have been fantastic and were a real inspiration to me when I was out injured," he said upon his retirement.
Meanwhile, Ferguson added: "Ending your playing career is a sad day for anyone, in the case of Ole, he has 11 fantastic years he can look back on. Ole has achieved everything a player could ever wish to achieve.
"He has been a great servant to the club and has always remained a model professional in his responsibility as a player, in his demeanour and his manners have always been exemplary. Ole will hopefully go on to be a good coach."
Solskjaer did take on a coaching role with United's reserves, before he returned to Molde to guide them to the first Norwegian title in the club's history. His exploits in Norway attracted the attention of numerous clubs, but in January 2014, it was Cardiff City that brought the former United frontman back to England.
