A French maverick, a flying Dutchman and some prolific midfielders all appear in this star-studded list of Manchester United's top Premier League scorers
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Who are Manchester United's top Premier League scorers? The Red Devils be going through a difficult patch, but at least the fans have a well-stocked larder of glorious recent memories to look back on.
No team has won the Premier League more than United, who have lifted the famous trophy 13 times, and those triumphs were in large part thanks to the star-studded cast of players that follows here.
Manchester United's top Premier League scorers: 10. Marcus Rashford (59 goals)
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Rashford made the step up to senior football look easy, scoring twice in his top-flight debut against Arsenal as an 18-year-old to become the club’s third-youngest Premier League goalscorer after Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck.
The England striker is only 24 years old, but 2021/22 was already his seventh top-flight season.
It was a disappointing one as Rashford scored just four goals, having hit double figures in each of the previous three, but he will have plenty of time to work his way up this list if he sticks around at Old Trafford.
9. David Beckham (62 goals)
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Beckham racked up his 62 goals over nine seasons at Old Trafford, supplying a steady return of between six and 11 strikes per season for each of his eight campaigns as a first-team regular under Alex Ferguson.
Many of them were thanks to his deadly free-kick ability, but his right foot was a danger from long range too. His most prolific season was 2001/02, when he bagged 11 goals despite having his campaign curtailed by injury.
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8. Eric Cantona (64 goals)
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The flamboyant Frenchman had the skills to match the swagger, hitting double figures in each of his four full seasons in Manchester.
Cantona’s best return was 18 goals in 1993/94, his first full season at Old Trafford, when he helped the Red Devils retain the league title and won PFA Player of the Year.
7. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (91 goals)
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The baby-faced assassin is remembered as the ultimate super-sub thanks to his knack of finding a goal from the bench, but his overall return is mightily impressive.
Solksjaer’s first season with United in 1996/97 was his best, when he was the club’s top scorer with 18 goals as they clinched the title.
He went on to reach double figures another four times during a golden era for the club, although he saved his most famous – and crucial – goal for the Champions League final in 1999.
6. Andy Cole (93 goals)
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Cole is the third-top scorer in Premier League history and represented eight top-flight clubs, but the most decorated spell of his career came during seven years under Fergie at Old Trafford.
United broke the British transfer record to bring Cole in from Newcastle in January 1995 and he would go on to win five league titles in Manchester, forming a deadly strike partnership with Dwight Yorke.
5. Ruud van Nistelrooy (95 goals)
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The Flying Dutchman was a sensation in England, scoring more than 20 goals in four of his five seasons as a United player, before heading to Real Madrid.
Van Nistelrooy won the Golden Boot in 2002/03, when he netted 25 times in 34 games to fire the Red Devils to what would be his only league crown.
He has the best goals-per-minute ratio of all the players on this list, averaging one every 127 minutes.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (102 goals)
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Ronaldo has boosted himself up the rankings this season, after enjoying an impressive campaign at the ripe old age of 37 following his return to Old Trafford from Juventus last summer.
The Portuguese’s 18-goal haul was his joint-second best in the Premier League, matching his output from 2008/09 but still far behind his peak Golden Boot-winning year of 2007/08.
3. Paul Scholes (107 goals)
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One-club man Paul Scholes was a central figure in one of United’s most glorious eras, and he was a constant goal threat from midfield throughout his 19-year stint in a red shirt.
Scholes’ most prolific campaign was in 2002/03, when he struck 14 times, the second campaign of his career where he hit double figures in the league after netting 10 times as a youngster in 1995/96.
2. Ryan Giggs (109 goals)
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Finishing just ahead of his long-time team-mate Scholes, Giggs had the benefit of making an extra 133 appearances in a United shirt.
The Welsh wizard was a more prolific creator than finisher, holding the Premier League assist record with 162, but the 13-time title winner was a real goal threat earlier in his career, hitting double figures twice in the 1990s and netting at least five goals in 11 separate seasons.
1. Wayne Rooney (183 goals)
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Sitting way out in front, Rooney’s stunning goal return at United is unlikely to ever be matched.
The striker was amazingly prolific, and left Old Trafford with an average of around a goal every two games for the Red Devils in the Premier League.
Rooney reached double figures in 11 consecutive seasons between 2004/05 and 2014/15 and remains the all-time top scorer for both United and England, and second top scorer in Premier League history, behind Alan Shearer.
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.
