Manchester United’s Best Ever Strikers

Over the years, throughout multiple generations, United have had players who can get you off your feet whether it be Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani or George Best.

Here are the top 11 best United wingers to have ever played for the Red Devils.

11 – Gordon Hill

After a spell with Milwall, Scottish winger Gordon Hill got a dream move to Manchester United in 1975 and would remain at Old Trafford for three years.

In those three years, the exciting winger made 101 appearances for the Red Devils and scored 39 goals in his time at Old Trafford.

Hill was part of the 1976 FA Cup winning side, as they beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley Stadium before the winger moved to Derby County for £250,000 in 1978.

10 – Willie Morgan

United winger Willie Morgan had the unenviable task of replacing George Best at Old Trafford and he did perhaps as well as he could have done.

The Scottish winger had spent the first eight years of his career at Burnley before moving to Old Trafford. He then spent seven years at the club up until 1975.

Morgan ended up playing 236 times for the Red Devils scoring 25 goals for the club and he deserves a place on our list.

9 – Lee Sharpe

Lee Sharpe was perhaps incredibly unfortunate that he came into the United side during the early 1990s with Ryan Giggs ready to break into the first team.

During his early days at Old Trafford, Sharpe was a force to be reckoned with as he was awarded the PFA Player Of The Year award in 1991.

As mentioned, if it wasn’t for the emergence of Giggs, Sharpe would have been a fixture in the United team for years.

8 – Steve Coppell

Next up we have a winger from the 1980s now in the form of Steve Coppell. Whilst Manchester United were not successful during Coppell’s time at Old Trafford, the winger certainly was consistent during his time at the Red Devils.

After joining the club from Tranmere Rovers in 1975, Coppell shone whilst the team were struggling as the winger scored 53 goals in 322 games before being forced into an early retirement due to injury in 1983.

7 – Andrei Kanchelskis

Next on our list is Andrei Kanchelskis, who was one of the first foreign footballing imports into the United Kingdom and made a big impact at Old Trafford.

With Sharpe on one wing, Kanchelskis would more than likely be on the other and the Russian was known for his blistering pace which no Premier League defender could keep up with at the time.

He played 161 times for the Red Devils, scoring 36 goals during his time at Old Trafford, and it was a major surprise when he was let go in 1995, but the move was done, similarly to Sharpe, to make room for the Class of ’92

6 – Luis Nani

At number six we have a Portuguese winger in the form of Luis Nani. After the success of another United signing from Sporting Lisbon, the Red Devils decided to chance their hand once again with Nani.

Joining during the summer of 2007, Nani was an explosive winger who could get fans off their seat but also frustrate them at the same time.

Unlike many others on this list, Nani had a habit of scoring outrageous goals from outside the penalty box with his bombastic celebration to match. Rio Ferdinand once said that Nani struck the ball better than Ronaldo and Paul Scholes.

Nani scored 41 goals and provided 70 assists during his spell at Old Trafford. Whilst he was a mixed bag at times, Nani has to go down as a successful signing.

5 – Marcus Rashford

Beginning our top five will probably be the most divisive selection on this list but current United winger Marcus Rashford deserves a place on this list.

Rashford came through the United youth academy at Carrington and was handed his debut in 2016 against FC Midtjylland in the UEFA Europa League.

Since then, Rashford has improved drastically but there have been seasons where the Englishman has lacked confidence for the Red Devils.

Nicky Butt believes Rashford has the potential to be the ‘best in the world’ for United and the Englishman has scored 131 times in 406 appearances and provided 69 assists and that number will only go up.

4 – David Beckham

Similar to Rashford, David Beckham came through United’s famed youth academy with the Essex-born winger being a part of the Class of ’92.

Beckham scored the outrageous halfway-line goal against AFC Wimbledon which put him on the map and he would go on to make 394 appearances for the Red Devils and scored 85 goals for the club.

The England international wasn’t a typically agile or skillful player but what he did have, that nobody else had, was the ability to put in unbelievable crosses which is shown by his 121 assists, which is a fantastic return.

3 – Cristiano Ronaldo

Beginning our top three is iconic Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who had two spells at Old Trafford, one as a winger and the other as a goalscoring striker.

Ronaldo was an iconic Premier League winger. Rashford named Ronaldo in his ultimate five-a-side team and the Portuguese trickster inspired a generation of wingers.

Harry Kane named Ronaldo as the best finisher in football history, which would certainly be hard to dispute as he has now hit 900 goals.

As for his two spells at Old Trafford, in 346 appearances, Ronaldo scored 145 goals and provided 64 assists for the Red Devils.

2 – George Best

Northern Irish winger George Best not only scored an incredible amount of goals from the wing, but he was perhaps one of the most influential players to play for the Red Devils.

There is an argument to be made that Best was football’s first superstar and he made a huge impact on English football.

Best was named as United’s best number 7 ahead of Ronaldo and Sir Bobby Charlton. Throughout his time at United, Best scored 161 times for the Red Devils and provided 11 assists.

Whilst these numbers are brilliant, he isn’t quite number one on our list.

1 – Ryan Giggs

At number one is of course Welsh winger Ryan Giggs who was the most exciting academy player to make a breakthrough at Old Trafford before the class of ’92.

The story goes that a young Giggs could well have ended up at Manchester City but the Red Devils, no doubt thanks to Ferguson, got the deal over the line and that was certainly a brilliant decision.

A speedy, devastating and productive winger, Giggs consistently developed his game throughout the years and became a great creative winger when he couldn’t run as fast.

The Welshman’s longevity puts him top of our list. Giggs has the most United appearances of all time with 963 and deserves number one on this list, particularly with 164 goals and 253 assists to his name.

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