Grant reveals Solskjaer is 'still deadly' in training!

Current first-team star Lee Grant was a teenage United fan when Solskjaer famously scored the winner in the iconic Champions League final of 1999; Ole's instinctive finish past Bayern Munich's no.1 Oliver Kahn was representative of his insatiable appetite for goals.

More recently, Grant was between the posts as the Norwegian club legend prepared for this weekend's Treble Reunion charity game against Bayern legends, and he admitted the boss is still a clinical attacking force, despite retiring over a decade ago in 2007.

“It was the first time I managed to get a glimpse of whether he still had it or not,” Lee told us ahead of Sunday's match at Old Trafford, for which tickets are still available.

“We had a shooting session and I was doing some one-on-one work with Romelu [Lukaku] and Paul [Pogba]. The manager came over and I could see he was limbering up in the corner of my eye. 

“He got involved and he was still pretty deadly, I have to be honest. He had some bad luck because he kept hitting the same post in the same spot. But the touch was there and the instinct was still there. He is very, very clinical still. He did well and I am looking forward to seeing that game on Sunday.”

It remains a fairly-unknown fact that Grant has supported United all of his life and so, naturally, the 1999 Champions League final was a monumental night in his youth.

“I was 16,” he said. “I was an avid United fan, sat on the sofa, watching the game. I was very despondent throughout the final [when we were losing 1-0], close to tears as I had really been looking forward to that night. 

“We had the champagne on ice in the fridge… and we never had champagne in my house! It was a big moment because the Treble was on the horizon.

"To get to the back-end of the game and look like we weren't going to win it was heartbreaking. Then we got a goal and it was bedlam in our house. 

“When the final whistle went after we'd got the winner, it was bonkers. I remember flying out of the front door and into the garden with a knee slide! The champagne came out, we were spraying it all over, and everybody up and down the street was aware of the result. It was a great moment.”

In December 2018, some 19 years after that champagne-filled night, Grant met Ole for the first time following the Norwegian's appointment as caretaker manager at United and the keeper admits the moment was a little surreal for him. 

Lee explained: "I hadn't worked under Ole before, because I wasn't around at the club when he was previously here, either coaching younger guys or working with the first team as a striker coach.

“This was a chance to meet one of my heroes and it was an interesting moment. It was slightly strange but very quickly you forget all of that and think, 'he's the boss'. You play it cool!”

Fans can buy tickets for the Treble Reunion game online or by calling 0161 868 8000.