Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would love to have ‘best player in the world’ Cristiano Ronaldo back at Old Trafford. The former United striker and current manager was asked to name one dream signing among the players who he played alongside in the iconic 1999 treble-winning team. And Solskjaer, who made over 350 appearances for the Red Devils during his dream 11 year-spell at the club, picked Roy Keane as his dream addition before mentioning that he would also ‘sneak Paul Scholes in the back door’.  Manchester United Premier League 2019–20 New Schedule: Full Fixture Details, With Teams and Match Timings in IST for Red Devils.

The 47-year-old also said that given the opportunity he would also love to bring Cristiano back to Old Trafford. The Norwegian was talking to ShivNadarFoundation where he was asked about the dream signing. “That’s not fair, that’s very unfair. I can only have one? I would probably pick, can I pick two? They didn’t even play the final (in the Champions League against Bayern Munich). Roy Keane and Paul Scholes. I think I would pick those two,” said Solskjaer. Manchester United Finally Begins Training at Old Trafford; Jesse Lingard, Harry Maguire, Fred Rodrigues & Others React! (Watch Video & See Pics).

“It’s unfair to Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the best player in the world of course. I played with him so I would like to have him in my team as well but Keane and Scholes, what an unbelievable midfield.” The 47-year-old then went on to praise Ronaldo and stated that the Portuguese had traits of becoming the best player in the world since his younger days.

“Cristiano always wanted to be the best but he was shaped by the environment he came to at United,” said Solskjaer. “We — the more experienced players — just had to guide him once in a while. We could see a world-class talent with the best attributes you could see. But there were little things we could help with. You could see he was not going to let anything get in the way of being the best in the world."

He was also asked about the qualities he is looking for in his new signings and the manager replied by saying that wouldn’t want ‘rotten apple’ on the books. “I wouldn’t be able to look at myself if I didn’t know I’d given everything for my team-mates and my manager. That’s what I also now look for in players that we sign or we bring up from the youth team. You have to have a good personality and that you are professional because one rotten apple in the basket will make the others rotten.

“So for me, it’s about building a team that will reflect me and my coaching staff’s personalities and views. Of course, there are standards because we want to win. We are in the business to win. But the first step to be a Man United player and person, you have to be humble enough to know you have to work hard. Never give in and always do your best, 100 per cent effort is required every day and don’t think you are better than you are.

“You still have to play with that confidence at the same time. It’s a fine balance but that is what is going to make the difference when we want to get to the championship again that we want to win."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 09, 2020 03:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).