Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that he wanted to emulate his City counterpart Pep Guardiola when he was starting out in his managerial career.
The Norwegian was confirmed on a permanent basis on Thursday after winning 14 of his 19 games in charge since replacing Mourinho in December.
Solskjaer wanted to step straight into the job after coaching United’s youth side just like what the Spaniard had done at Barcelona.
“Naively enough or strangely enough, I’ve always had this belief and this strange dream about being the manager here [at Old Trafford],” he told Sky Sports.
“I didn’t think about it when I was a player, until I got my bad injury, then I had the three years where I thought I needed to be a coach.
“Then in my last season, when I started working with the reserves, I thought ‘yeah, I like this, I like this environment’.
“And of course, when I saw the success – I know this [sounds odd] – what Guardiola did, he went for the reserves and then went into Barcelona, could I do the same?
“But it didn’t happen and I probably gave up my dream when Cardiff ended as it did. Then suddenly I’m here.
“But I still believe, in sport, you get what you deserve and I’ve worked very hard, I’ve been myself, I love working with human beings and maybe that’s what’s brought me here.”