Former Manchester United youngster Davide Petrucci has revealed what it was like playing for the club as a youngster, including playing under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the very early days of his coaching career.
Petrucci was an Italian prospect playing for Roma back in 2008 when Manchester United snapped him up, taking advantage of the fact they could offer him a professional contract when his boyhood club could not due to national rules.
The creative midfielder would go on to spend six years at Old Trafford before leaving for Romanian outfit CFR Cluj in 2014. But that came after a stint under current first-team boss Solskjaer when he was in charge of the reserve team between 2008 and 2011.
Petrucci playing alongside the likes of Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard in that side and says Solskjaer's philosophies and style of playing are very much the same now as they were back then.
In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, the Italian said; "I started with the Under-18s but after two months I moved to the reserves and Ole was there.
“He was always positive, always smiling and encouraging us to play football, play forward, play fast and to enjoy the game.
“I remember him like a father figure to us, or a brother, just part of the family and always being with us, never screaming at us or doubting us.
“He was always wanting to push us, make us feel free on the pitch and to know what we had to do. He was a really, really good coach.”
Ten years on and Solskjaer now resides in the hot seat at Old Trafford, but Petrucci believes that the former striker was always the man to take over after Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
"I thought that after Ferguson it was not easy to find a person who could replace him. Actually, I think it’s impossible because he’s one in maybe 10 million.
“But Solskjaer is one person who knows the mentality of United very well, he knows the club and everything, and I think he was the one who could replace Ferguson.
“They tried with Moyes, Van Gaal and others but it was not the same. Maybe the way Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played for them, having such big moments on the pitch, helped him and now I think they’re getting better and better.
“Hopefully United will get back to the level they were at when I was there and they had Sir Alex Ferguson sitting on the bench.”
