AS Saint-Etienne midfielder Ole Selnaes is looking forward to playing on the Old Trafford turf as the French side travel to Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 first-leg.
Selnaes grew up in Norway and with his fellow Norwegian and namesake Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scoring the winning goal in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, United were the obvious club to support.
Selnaes reveals he went to Old Trafford as a fan
The defensive midfielder joined St Etienne, currently 5th in Ligue 1, at the start of 2016 and has enjoyed a vital role in the side since. Few matches have been bigger than this one, at the club he followed as a kid in Norway.
"English football and Manchester United is really, really big in Norway," Selnaes explained.
Along with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United also had Norwegian Henning Berg and Ronny Johnsen donning the Red shirt. With the Premier League being "by far the most popular league in Norway," Selnaes supported United because "when [he] grew up, we had some Norwegians at Manchester United, so obviously [he] followed them totally."
Selnaes idolised Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
"I have been to some games when I was a little kid, but that's a long time ago now," the midfielder revealed. Although he's visited before, Selnaes has never played at Old Trafford. "Of course it's going to be a special moment, it's one of the most special stadiums in the world - a great history, a special stadium."
Both St Etienne and Norway are not the feared sides they once were, but the French side have begun to improve year on year, although they are far off the grand club they once were in the 1970s.
A victory at Old Trafford would certainly catapult the name back onto the stage, and potentially do the same to Ole Selnaes, looking to win at the stadium he dreamed about as "a little kid".