[16] On 14 February 1995, ahead of the start of the new season, he was signed by Åge Hareide, manager of newly promoted top-flight club Molde, for a fee of NOK150,000.

[29] Solskjær also formed a good strike-partnership with fellow forwards Arild Stavrum and Ole Bjørn Sundgot; because their surnames all started with the same letter, this led to them being referred to as "The Three S's".

[33] However, neither Everton nor City were willing to take a risk on Solskjær, and the interest from Hamburg and Cagliari fell through after Manchester United submitted a bid of £1.5 million during Euro 1996, which Molde accepted.

[33] Solskjær made his final appearance for Molde on 21 July 1996 in a 5–1 win against Start, scoring the fourth goal in the 85th minute, before throwing his shirt to the crowd in celebration and receiving applause as he was substituted.

[35] As the only striker to arrive at Old Trafford that year, it was widely expected that his first season would be spent as a backup to Eric Cantona and Andy Cole with only occasional first-team opportunities.

[75] Solskjær won the Intercontinental Cup on 30 November, as Manchester United beat Brazilian team Palmeiras 1–0 at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

[90] Three days later, Solskjær helped United snatch a 1–0 win against Aston Villa, with the Norwegian heading in a David Beckham cross in the 85th minute.

[citation needed] He scored his first goals of the season on 22 September 2001, in a 4–0 victory over Ipswich Town, with Solskjær netting two – the second from a difficult angle.

[100] On 12 December, he scored a brace and provided two assists in United's 5–0 victory over Derby County, netting in the 6th and 58th minutes while setting up Roy Keane and Paul Scholes.

[101][102] Solskjær started the comeback against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on 6 January 2002, scoring in the 77th minute, as well as providing the assist for van Nistelrooy's second goal as United won 3–2.

[113] By the 2002–03 season, both Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke had left Old Trafford, leaving Solskjær, Diego Forlán and Van Nistelrooy to compete for a place in the starting line-up.

He then finally made his first start in January 2006 in an FA Cup match against Burton Albion, before playing a full game as a captain in the third round replay.

His return to full fitness slowly continued with regular appearances in the reserves, until on 8 March 2006 when, during a game against Middlesbrough, he was accidentally caught by Ugo Ehiogu, breaking his cheekbone.

After a further injury sustained in Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League, Solskjær recovered and again returned to form scoring the third goal in a 3–1 home win over Wigan on Boxing Day.

[citation needed] Following his lengthy layout to injuries Solskjær made his full game comeback on 2 September 2006, when he scored the first and last goals in a 4–1 win against Hungary in a Euro 2008 qualifying match.

When interviewed by Setanta Sports in August 2007, Solskjær confirmed he would train to be a coach after retiring from professional football, and would start to earn the required badges after his last season with Manchester United.

Solskjær was United's first full-time reserve team manager since 2006, taking over from Brian McClair and Jimmy Ryan, who had filled the role in a caretaker capacity.

[139] On 9 November 2010, Solskjær signed a four-year contract with the Norwegian club Molde to take over as manager, where he played prior to moving to Manchester United.

[144] On 11 November 2012, Solskjær's team, Molde, won the Tippeligaen for the second consecutive year after they beat Hønefoss 1–0, whilst their closest title challengers, Strømsgodset lost 2–1 away to Sandnes Ulf.

[148] The club won its first game with Solskjær in charge, coming from behind to beat Newcastle United 2–1 in the third round of the FA Cup, two days after his appointment.

[166] Molde then won the next four games, including a 4–2 victory over Odd on 21 August with two goals coming in stoppage time from substitutes Tobias Svendsen and Harmeet Singh.

[175] Solskjær helped Molde finish second in his third season, seven points behind winners Rosenborg, seeing the club qualify for the first qualification round of the Europa League.

[193] After suffering defeats in the league to Stabæk and Ranheim at the end of August,[194][195] Solskjær led his side undefeated for the rest of the season – winning eight out of ten.

[208] The Champions League saw Solskjær suffer his first loss as manager, as United were beaten 2–0 at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their round of 16 tie on 12 February.

Solskjær did not make any substitutions until the 87th minute of the game, and again dropped usual Europa League goalkeeper Romero in favour of de Gea.

[237] On 2 February, Solskjær oversaw United scoring a record equalling nine goals in a 9–0 victory over Southampton as the latter team received two red cards.

[243] United kicked off their 2021–22 UEFA Champions League campaign on 14 September 2021 with a 2–1 loss to Swiss club Young Boys, Cristiano Ronaldo scored early on.

In the Premier League, United started off strong with a 5–1 win at home vs Leeds with Bruno Fernandes scoring a hattrick and Paul Pogba registering four assists in that game.

First-team coach and former player Michael Carrick took over as caretaker until Ralf Rangnick's appointment in December as interim manager until the end of the season.

[256] In 2009, the Norwegian parliament awarded Solskjær its annual Peer Gynt Prize for his work as worthy ambassador of sport and for his "great social commitment",[257] in a ceremony at Vinstra Hall.