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FourFourTwo

Sport

Jacque Talbot

'We partied hard with Eric Cantona, said goodbye at 4am, then heard on the radio hours later he'd retired' Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals Cantona not only shocked supporters when he retired, team-mates had no clue either

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Eric Cantona Alan Shearer Alex Ferguson Manchester United EPL Manchester

Former players Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (L) and Eric Cantona attend the unveiling of a statue of Manager Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United at Old Trafford on November 23, 2012 in Manchester, England.

It's no secret that Sir Alex Ferguson wanted the Premier League’s all-time goalscorer, Alan Shearer, to join the club before he signed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for a fraction of the world record fee Newcastle United paid Blackburn Rovers.

Shearer eventually signed for boyhood club Newcastle for £15 million deal, and the Red Devils brought Solskjaer, who was very much an unknown at the time.

Manchester United managed just fine without the England international, with ‘Babyface Assassin’ Solskjaer scoring 126 goals for them in all competitions during his ten-year spell at Old Trafford and winning numerous league titles and, of course, the Champions League in 1999.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became an integral part of the Man Utd team (Image credit: Getty Images)

Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo, Solskjaer says he hopes his goals for the club softened the blow somewhat.

“Sir Alex wanted Alan Shearer, and who could blame him? He was the best goalscorer. But many goals doesn’t guarantee trophies. United signed a cheaper striker – and I hope the gaffer was happy with me.

“Back then, Manchester United had just won a second Double in three seasons, and expectations were high. I felt no pressure whatsoever,” insists Solskjaer.

“It felt like a privilege. I was six minutes into my debut when I scored. Eric Cantona was the first one to celebrate with me, David Beckham was the second. I looked around at the crowd going mad and I had all the players thanking me. That was a wow moment, the start of something special. I played with some of the best players in the world, but then we were one of the best teams in the world.

Sir Alex Ferguson did just fine without Alan Shearer (Image credit: Getty Images)

“We had a great dressing room. We challenged each other, we loved each other, we fought with each other in the dressing room because we needed to win. We had some fiery characters. David May was the joker, Paul Scholes was the silent assassin, sat there at the back throwing comments. Giggsy was the entertainer. Eric Cantona set the mood. When he came into the dressing room, everyone just sat down and looked at him. Everyone looked up to him."

Solskjaer continued: “Eric and I – plus Jordi Cruyff – became friends. We had a party at the end of my first season. We went to a restaurant, partied hard and said goodbye with our wives and girlfriends. The next day, we went to London and heard on the radio that Eric Cantona had retired.

We’d only said goodbye at 4am that day – that was what Eric was like. He was about to shock football and he didn’t say a word to his mates the night before. It was sad for us all, but I enjoyed one year playing with one of the best team-mates ever.”