Sir Alex Ferguson has backed Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to replace him in the Old Trafford hot-seat when he finally retires.
The 70-year-old Scot is not expected to retire any time in the next three years and that could give Solskjaer the chance to build his name as a coach.
European heavyweights Pep Guardiola andJose Mourinho are among the favourites to replace Ferguson at United, but the current boss feels Solskjaer would be ideally suited.
And Ferguson says he is already a step ahead of other United greats such as Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce and Roy Keane because he always knew he wanted to go into coaching once he retired.
Ferguson said: 'I think the problem for a lot of footballers today is that when they get to the end of their careers they decide they want to become coaches because they have nothing else in their mind that they think they can do.
'Whereas Ole always wanted to stay in the game, so from an early age he was preparing stay in the game as a coach or as a manager, as he is at the moment. So he has given himself a better chance than the rest.
'Ole was always one of the professionals that used to take down all the notes from the training sessions and games.'
Solskjaer was the United reserve team manager before leaving to return home to Norway and leading Molde to their first league title in his first season as a manager last year.
And Ferguson believes the 38-year-old has all the attributes to become a top boss.
'He has got an inner toughness, there’s no doubt about that,' added the United manager. 'He is a nice man with a lovely manner about him.
'If you go to a club in Norway that have never won the league ever in their history and you win the league you have to have something about you to do that.
'He has brought in his own staff. He’s brought two coaches from United as part of his structure to the club so he knew where he was going. A useful thing to have in management is good decision making.
'It’s possibly one of the most important things and he has been decisive, so yes he has got a lot going for himself.'
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