Manchester United are to grant Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a testimonial. The popular Norwegian, who secured iconic status at Old Trafford by scoring a stoppage-time winning goal in the 1999 European Cup final, gave up his battle to overcome a long-standing knee problem in August.

His retirement ended an 11-year playing career with the club, for whom he scored 126 goals in 366 appearances after joining them from Molde for £650,000 in 1996.

Sir Alex Ferguson has already appointed Solskjaer to his coaching team and, although his brief is to develop United's young forwards, he has also spent time with the senior squad this season. It is also thought that the 34-year-old, who is settled in the UK with his young family, will become an ambassador for United.

A date for the testimonial has not been set, but it will form part of next summer's pre-season campaign in August, after Ferguson's squad have returned from a three-match tour of South Africa. The opposition is also still to be confirmed.