Former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has finally admitted he grew up as a Liverpool supporter.
Solskjaer spent 11 years at Old Trafford as a player, winning six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the Champions League. He famously scored the winner as United claimed a comeback victory over Bayern Munich in the latter competition in 1999.
The Norwegian returned to the Red Devils in 2018 for a three-year spell as manager, guiding them to the Europa League final in 2021. He was sacked after a miserable start to last season though and has now risked the wrath of United fans by revealing his childhood love for Liverpool.
The Reds are one of United's biggest rivals and while he is regarded as a club legend in Manchester, it was Liverpool who Solskjaer grew up supporting. He has revealed that the strength of the Liverpool team when he was growing up led to him following them.
"I must have been environmentally damaged because when you follow football, we had Match of the Day on every Saturday in Norway and of course, Liverpool were the better team in the 80s," Solskjaer told James Richardson’s Kings of Europe podcast.
"They had Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and all of those, so yes I followed Liverpool. I was one of the supporters who followed because they won everything, Hard enough to say as a Man United player but they were the better team in the 80s."
HAVE YOUR SAY! What should be Manchester United's starting line-up against Barcelona? Comment below.
Solskjaer's revelation marks a U-turn from seven years ago when he refused to give a hint about the truthfulness of the reports that he supported Liverpool. His only admission back in 2016 was that he 'bleeds red'.
“You learn as long as you live, that’s the only answer I can give you. I never confirm that one! I’m a Manchester United fan through and through. I bleed red,” he told FourFourTwo at the time.
In his interview with the Kings of Europe podcast, Solskjaer also opened up on his preparations for his contribution to United's famous Champions League win 24 years ago.
"I was rooming with Jaap Stam: big lad. He was snoring as well so I couldn't sleep in the afternoon. So I remember ringing my best mates, my best man in our wedding, asking him if he was going to watch the game, because something big was going to happen to me," he added.
"I was only on the bench but you have to make sure that you watch the full game because this is going to be big. But he worked as a nurse so he was going to have a night shift.
"So, I asked him to get someone to step in for him for an hour so he can watch the full game because it was just one of these mental things that I had this feeling."
