Former Manchester United youngster Davide Petrucci believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the nearest thing the club could find to Sir Alex Ferguson.

Petrucci played for Solskjaer with United reserves.

He told the Mirror: "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."