Manchester United's Norwegian striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could miss the whole of the coming season with a knee injury, the club have announced. The official club website says he underwent surgery in Gothenburg on Sunday, which revealed persistent damage to his right knee cartilage.
"He will undergo further treatment but it is likely Ole will miss the whole of this season," said a club spokesman.
The 31-year-old missed much of last season with similar problems.
Solskjaer came on as a second-half substitute in the FA Cup final win over Millwall in May - and at the time it seemed as thoughhis rehabilitation from injury was almost complete.
But the man Ferguson had originally earmarked to fill the right-sided midfield slot vacated by David Beckham felt more twinges of pain during pre-season training.
He pulled out of last month's US tour on the eve of departure and headed for Sweden for further tests, the outcome of which have devastated the United camp.
The news that Solskjaer could miss the entire season comes as another blow to a Manchester United camp that has endured a torrid start to the new season, which began with defeat by Arsenal in Sunday's Community Shield. New signings Gabriel Heinze and Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the start of the season due to the Olympics, Wes Brown is injured and Rio Ferdinand and Darren Fletcher must both complete bans before they can play.
Up front, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha are also temporarily unavailable due to surgery and injury respectively.
New signing Alan Smith is expected to lead the line when they face Dinamo Bucharest in a third-round Champions League qualifier on Wednesday.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Devastating news about Ole, I personally believe that's it for his playing career at United