Manchester United are one of the biggest clubs in the world and have one of the most storied histories in world football.
They have won the Premier League title 20 times, the FA Cup 12 times, the Champions League thrice, and both the Europa League and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Along the way, so many of the world’s finest footballers have passed through the club, making a name for themselves at the venerable Old Trafford.
So let’s take a look back at the greatest XI of Manchester United players in history.
GK Peter Schmeichel
One of the greatest goalkeepers in football history, Peter Schmeichel was an absolutely titanic presence at the back for Manchester United. He was the definition of a leader, bellowing instructions to his defenders, holding the back line accountable, and doing his job to put everything on the line for his club.
Schmeichel may have been 6’4″, but he was one of the most nimble goalkeepers, perhaps owing to his background in handball which tests a keeper’s reflexes to a different extent.
The Danish icon had just about no weaknesses to his game, performing every task a goalkeeper needs to at the highest level. That included scoring goals, as he found the back of the net 11 times in his career.
A man of principle and a consistent presence between the sticks, Schmeichel won the Premier League five times and was part of the all-time great United squad that hoisted the 1998/99 Champions League title.
LB Denis Irwin
When discussing the greatest left backs in the history of football, Irish international Denis Irwin absolutely has to be listed among the greats. Certainly, he holds a special place in the history of Manchester United.
Irwin spent 12 seasons with United, dominating the left back position in the 1990s. He was also quite the player at right back, ushering in an era of players who could shine at both positions.
Irwin’s technique and all-around brilliance made him a fixture in seven different Premier League-winning sides.
CB Rio Ferdinand
Manchester United have had so many wonderful center backs over the years, but there’s an argument to be made that Rio Ferdinand was the most gifted of them.
Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić formed a legendary partnership in the center of defense, with the duo playing a key role in United winning the 2007/08 Champions League over Chelsea.
A six-time Premier League winner, Ferdinand was one of the greatest center backs of the 2000’s. He was one of the most intelligent defenders, capable of covering and marking the very best strikers in the game. Nobody wanted to go up against him, because he rarely made mistakes on the ball.
The perfect partner for the aggressive Vidić, Ferdinand made it to six Premier League Team of the Season as one of the greatest ball-playing center backs the world as ever seen.
CB Roy Keane
A warrior in the defensive midfield and central defense, Roy Keane was the definition of a leader and a captain. Keane was one of the most feared and respected players of his time – and perhaps even of all time. Crossing the wrong path with Keane was akin to a death sentence, as Keane could put in brutal challenges without getting himself into trouble.
Keane, a 2021 Premier League Hall of Fame inductee, won the Premier League seven times and the FA Cup four times.
Although he was known for his tenacious defending and fiery temper, that should not shroud how brilliant he was on the ball. Keane was a gifted passer and read the game as well as any defensive player of his time.
He was more of a midfielder than center back, but because he was so good at the latter position and because United have so many great midfielders in their history, he gets to make this spot over another wonderful footballer in Vidić.
RB Gary Neville
Now a pundit, it’s easy for some people – especially younger fans – to forget or not even realize how incredible of a right back Gary Neville was throughout the 2000s. Neville was a one-club man for Manchester United, accomplishing the rare feat of winning the Champions League twice in his career.
The right back made 400 appearances for United across three different decades, becoming an icon for the club. Neville is one of the best defensive right backs in the history of football and easily one of the best players at his position in Premier League history.
He was scrappy, industrious, and a perfect partner for any right winger with his ability to overlap and put in dangerous crosses. Neville did whatever he could to help United win matches, hoisting the Premier League title eight times in his career.
Though he played until 2011, his peak was in the mid-90s when he was named to the Team of the Season three straight times.
CM Paul Scholes
Kevin De Bruyne is getting a lot of love and shouts as the greatest midfielder in Premier League history, but before that, Paul Scholes was often listed off as the best player at the position.
Scholes could do it all in the middle of the park for Manchester United. He scored over 100 goals and made nearly 500 appearances for the Red Devils as another prestigious one-club man, with a career spanning three decades.
Scholes won the Champions League twice and the Premier League a whopping 11 times, making him one of the most successful players in the history of football.
The catalogue of long-range goals Scholes has scored is up there with the greatest players ever, but Scholes did so much more than provide brilliant individual highlights. For Scholes, the basis of his game was consistency, whether that was on the ball with his elite passing or off the ball with his cerebral defending.
Scholes brought the leadership, technical class, and defensive intensity that tends to be the hallmark of great Manchester United players. He could perform any role or play any position in midfield, adapting his game based on the players around him.
CM David Beckham
David Beckham was more of a right midfielder than a center midfielder, but, like so many other players on this list, he proved he could be a world-class player at a variety of positions and in a variety of roles.
Although Beckham’s career with Manchester United ended in a sour fashion due to an argument with Sir Alex Ferguson, no club is more associated with football’s biggest mainstream star than this one.
Beckham is one of the greatest technicians to ever play the game. His range of passing, crossing, and mistake-free style of play made him the great equalizer for Manchester United. He could turn a game on its head with just one cross or set piece.
Though Beckham had a Hollywood reputation, he could be one of the grittiest and hard-working players at tracking back and defending. This, combined with his vision and passing quality, made him capable of playing in the midfield and not just on the flanks.
CM Bobby Charlton
Sir Bobby Charlton is one of the greatest players in world football history and on the shortlist of the very best English footballers ever, alongside a few of the other Manchester United stars on this list.
Charlton scored nearly 200 goals for United in over 600 appearances, producing a career filled with triumphs, moments, and quality that can stand with anyone. The mark of a top, top legend is an ability to perform at the highest level possible for decades, and Charlton undoubtedly did that.
For three straight seasons, Charlton came in at least second in the Ballon d’Or podium, winning the award in 1966 – the same year he was the Golden Ball at the World Cup. It is difficult to do Charlton’s career justice with mere words.
LW Ryan Giggs
Nobody has played more games in the history of Manchester United than Ryan Giggs. It’s possible that no footballer in history has created the level of longevity over their career that Giggs did, because even when he was 35 years of age, he had three Premier League seasons with at least five assists – including eight at the age of 37.
To do that from the 90s to the 10s as a winger is absolutely mind-boggling.
Giggs was one of the hardest-working wingers of his time, yet he was still able to perform at the highest level year after year with minimal wear and tear. He never made excuses, never made compromises, and simply showed up to ball with the best of them.
Giggs won the Premier League a whopping 13 times, meaning 65 percent of United’s league titles were won with the Welshman as part of the squad. The iconic wide midfielder also won the FA Cup four times and the Champions League twice.
One of the greatest crossers of the ball in history, Giggs was in the Team of the Season six times, dating back to his early seasons as a pro in 1992/93 all the way until the late 2000s.
Later in his career, he transitioned more to being a center midfielder and deeper playmaker than a wide playmaker, but he was still plenty effective in an attacking sense.
ST Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney deserves so much more credit in the context of world football history, because he is legitimately one of the greatest English players we have ever seen, in addition to being an all-time Manchester United great. Heck, Rooney is one of the best strikers ever, too.
At a technical and physical level, few can touch Rooney. He has scored some of the greatest goals in history, such as this bicycle kick against Manchester City.
Rooney was an immediate success for the Red Devils in 2004/05 after joining the club as a teenager from Everton. He scored 11 goals in his first season, then improved to 16 with 9 assists in his second.
Each season, he got better and so did United, moving up from third, to second, and then winning the league in three consecutive seasons.
In addition to being a great goal-scorer who could find the back of the net in a variety of situations, Rooney was one of the best all-around strikers of his time.
He could move wide to create, drop deep to start counters, and combine with any number of players. Rooney exceeded double-digit assists five times in his career.
RW Cristiano Ronaldo
No list of the greatest players in Manchester United history would be complete without Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the players in the argument for being the greatest footballer ever.
While Cristiano started his career in his home country of Portugal with the prestigious Sporting CP, it wasn’t until he joined United that he became one of the world’s biggest stars.
Sir Alex Ferguson and his teammates quickly took a liking to the hard-working, highly skilled, and impossibly athletic Ronaldo. It was as if someone created the perfect footballer in the lab, while Cristiano had the work ethic and mentality to take those raw tools and maximize them.
At Manchester United, Ronaldo played on either wing or as a playmaker, but he was usually the one starting attacks and taking on the creative burden on the right flank, much like David Beckham did a decade earlier.
Except this Hollywood superstar was more about dribbling and creating chances from nothing, taking on defenders and taking some of the most brutal fouls we have seen in the Premier League.
Cristiano was blockbuster, bringing a flair that the league had never seen before, while combining that with effective, intelligent attacking play.
He was a nightmare and so unique to the later, more ruthless versions of Cristiano we saw later in his career at Real Madrid and Juventus.
Young Cristiano was an artist but, in a different way, just as much in the argument for being the best footballer in the world.
