Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been a “great servant to the club” in his playing days and expressed confidence that the retiring Norwegian striker would go on to become a “good coach.”

34-year-old Solskjaer suffered a setback in recovery after having a knee operation in June and as such decided to retire after serving the Red Devils for 11 years. His last appearance in the famous Red shirt was FA Cup final at Wembley against Chelsea in May.

In a total of 366 appearances, he scored 126 goals and was renowned for making a certain impact coming off the bench. He was a United fans’ favourite with his most notable moment in United history coming when he scored the winner in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich during the 1999 treble-winning season.

Solskjaer, who arrived from Molde for £1.5million in 1996, will now be involved at the Manchester side as an ambassador and have a coaching role.

Paying tribute to the baby-faced striker, Ferguson said on the club's official website: "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, whose last four years saw persistent knee problems although he had a comparative better last season scoring 11 goals, said: "I would like to thank the manager, the coaching and medical staff and most of all the supporters, who have supported me through my career.

"They have been fantastic and were a real inspiration to me when I was out injured.

"The support the fans and the staff showed me during that time was the main motivation for me making my comeback.

"I feel proud to have represented Manchester United for 11 years and have some very special memories."