Darren Fletcher is nearing a Manchester United comeback (Picture: Getty)

Darren Fletcher is ready to make a huge impact on Manchester United’s season, according to Old Trafford great Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.

Scotland midfielder Fletcher has been sidelined for a year as he battles the serious stomach condition, ulcerative colitis.

However, the 29-year-old played 90 minutes for United’s reserves against Stoke recently, and, according to Solskjaer, is on the verge of a first-team comeback.

The Norwegian, who now manages Molde in his homeland said of his former team-mate: ‘It’s fantastic news that Darren is on his way back. I was over in Manchester about a month ago and I was lucky enough to bump into Fletch and he said he was on the road to recovery.




‘I just met him purely by chance outside the supermarket and it was great to see him. I could see just from talking to him that his tail was really up because he’s had a rough time of it obviously.’

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rates his former team-mate Darren Fletcher highly (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

The 1999 Champions League winner added: ‘He’s a humble guy from a humble family – he possesses all the attributes to be a Manchester United player. I’ve heard the accusation that he was an average player in a great team but I don’t agree with that at all.

‘We used to play Darren against the likes of Arsenal – in the big games, semi-finals – and he just ran more than them.

‘You could see Patrick Vieira never liked playing against Fletch and that to me is the sign of a great player.

‘For me, the proudest moment in my career was when I made my comeback from injury, scored for Manchester United and my son celebrated by clenching his fists.

‘Fletch has got his own twins so I’m sure he’ll want to play to show them he’s a good player. When I met him recently he seemed very positive so I’m sure it’s going to happen.’