Some people might say that choosing just nine great Manchester United players of all time is an impossible task. But we’ve gone ahead and done it anyway. From George Best to Cristiano Ronaldo, these are the Red Devils that have truly left their mark on the club.
Before we start our humble attempt at listing 9 footballers we feel best represent what it means to play for United, we would like to remind you to check our blog posts to learn more about the latest football matches and other Man United news.
1. Sir Bobby Charlton
Sir Bobby Charlton is a retired English footballer who played for Manchester United and the England national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and he was named by FIFA as one of the world’s greatest living players in 2004.
Charlton was born in Ashington, Northumberland, and he joined Manchester United as an apprentice in 1953. He made his first-team debut for the club in 1956, and he quickly established himself as a key player for both United and England.
Charlton played an instrumental role in helping Manchester United win the European Cup in 1968, and he also helped England win the World Cup in 1966. He retired from football in 1973, but he remained involved with Manchester United as a director and ambassador for many years afterward.
In 2008, Charlton was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004.
2. Ryan Giggs
Born in Cardiff, Wales, Ryan Giggs is a professional soccer player who has played for Manchester United since 1991. He is the club’s most decorated player, having won 13 Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, two Champions League titles, and one FIFA Club World Cup. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Welsh Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
3. George Best
George Best, a No 7 who is renowned for his blistering pace, artistic flair, and eye for goal, is one of the most outstanding players to have ever played for the club.
Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, Best was a quick, skillful left winger who is celebrated for his close control, dribbling, and ability to beat defenders. After making his United debut as a teenager in 1963, he went on to score 179 goals in 470 appearances for the club and was a key member of their first European Cup-winning team in 1968. He also won the League Championship twice and the FA Cup once during his time at Old Trafford.
4. Denis Law
Denis Law is a former Scottish footballer who played as a forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and was known as “The Lawman.” He was nicknamed “The King” and “Denis the Menace” due to his ability to score goals and his controversial behavior on the pitch. He is Scotland’s joint-leading goal scorer with 30 goals.
Law played for several Scottish clubs, including Huddersfield Town, Manchester City, and Torino. He also had a brief spell with Chelsea. He is the only Scottish player to have won the Ballon d’Or, which he did in 1964. In that year, he was also named European Footballer of the Year.
He joined Manchester United in 1962 for a then-British record fee of £115,000. He scored 237 goals in 404 appearances for United, making him their joint-fourth-highest goalscorer of all time. His goal-scoring record at United saw him inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. He was one of the inaugural 22 players to be inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
5. Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time. He has won numerous titles with Manchester United, including 11 Premier League titles and 2 Champions League titles. He was a member of the England national team from 1997 to 2004 and was part of the team that reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2002. Scholes is widely considered to be one of the best midfielders of his generation and was named as such by Pele in 2012.
6. Eric Cantona
A French striker with great ball control and vision, Eric Cantona is considered one of the best Manchester United players of all time. He joined the club in 1992 and helped lead them to four Premier League titles in five years. He was named Player of the Year in 1993 and won two FA Cups with the team. After a brief retirement, he returned to Manchester United in 1995 and helped them win the double (the Premier League title and the FA Cup). He retired for good in 1997.
7. Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney is one of the most iconic players in Manchester United’s history. He is the club’s all-time leading goalscorer and has won numerous trophies, including five Premier League titles and the Champions League. Rooney is a true United legend and will go down as one of the greatest players of all time.
8. Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on February 5, 1985, in Madeira, Portugal. He is the son of Maria Dolores Spinola dos Santos Aveiro and José Dinis Aveiro. Cristiano has an elder brother, Hugo, and two elder sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia. His name was inspired by the former US president, Ronald Reagan, whom his father was influenced by.
Cristiano Ronaldo began his football career playing for the amateur team Andorinha, where his father worked as a kit man. In 1995, at the age of 10, he signed with Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon. After impressing the club’s coaches with his skill and dedication, he was promoted to Sporting’s youth academy. He then went on to play for the club’s Under-16, Under-17 and B-teams before making his first-team debut in October 2002.
In August 2003, at the age of 18, Ronaldo was signed by the English club Manchester United for £12.24 million (€15 million). He became the most expensive teenager in English football history at the time. Ronaldo made a total of 196 appearances for United and scored 84 goals before he departed for Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2009 in a world-record transfer deal worth £80 million (€94 million).
At Madrid, Ronaldo won 15 major trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copas del Rey, three Champions League titles, and four Ballon d’Or awards—making him the only player to win four times—while setting a host of individual records including becoming Madrid’s all-time top goalscorer with 451 goals in all competitions. In September 2018, he transferred from Madrid to Italian champions Juventus in a deal worth €100 million (approx.. $117 million).
So far, for Juventus and Portugal, Ronaldo has won numerous awards, including the Serie A Player of the Year award (twice), Serie A Footballer of the Year award (twice), and UEFA Nations League Silver Boot (once). He currently holds over 50 senior records across club and country level football which include the most goals scored in Serie A history (200+), most hat-tricks scored in Serie A history (10+), and being the first player ever to score 10+ goals in 10 consecutive Serie A seasons (10 times), most Champions League seasons reached round of 16 or better stage (14), most consecutive scoring seasons across Europe’s top five leagues – 11, the first player ever to reach 30 goals mark in 11 consecutive seasons(10 times), etc. He is often considered one of the greatest players of all time
9. Duncan Edwards
Edwards was only 21 when he tragically lost his life in the Munich Air Disaster, but he was already widely considered to be one of the best players in the world. He is still revered by United fans, and his name is sung at Old Trafford on a regular basis. Edwards was a powerful and skillful midfielder who was equally adept at defending or attacking. He would have been a world-class player in any era, and it is impossible to know how good he could have gone on to be.
