"My main target is not to get Ole Gunnar Solskjaer back on the football pitch.
"My starting reference will be to get him to have a functional knee in the long term.
"There has been progress since the last operation 10 months ago but very little.
"Ole and I have decided to operate next Monday. Then we will have to wait and see.
"If things go well, he may be able to play again after at least a year or so but that will be a bonus."
Stuart Pearson, who had the same injury:
"The situation with Ole sounds very similar to mine. I had surgery and it was never right, even when I started playing again. I went from being an England player, missing a year out of the game, to having a knee which was never the same again.
"What Ole has to consider is while this may not be the end of his playing days, it could be the end of his top level football. I felt I could play to a decent standard but it wasn't the standard I had been used to.
"When I went to West Ham I would sometimes have a great game but I couldn't do the things I had been able to do. I had lost a little bit of pace and my knee was never as strong. You were always subject to that tackle from behind when it gives way, and you are out for a few more games. You just get frustrated with yourself.
"I would suggest he now thinks about protecting his knee.
"When they first operated on me they didn't know what the trouble was. They just opened you up and had a look. Nowadays they only have a little mark but I had two three inch scars and if you have it done a few times you have more. Then you get arthritis which Ole might already have, then when you reach 70 you need a replacement knee.
"The problem is, Ole had most of last season out as well. That must have been a blow for him. I am sure he thought that when David Beckham left he was going to fill that right side role and I am positive Sir Alex thought he had a replacement player for that job too."