Manchester United have a long history of great wingers and attacking players but who are the best three to have ever pulled on the famous red shirt? The glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson, especially in the early years, were built on two talented and highly effective wide men, though United’s tradition of using width and pace goes back much further than that.
With a focus on the post-war years, here is our pick of the best three Manchester United wingers ever! None of the current crop are anywhere near this list just yet.
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George Best
George Best is a club legend and however you view him, there can be no doubting that Best was one of the greatest players of all time. Perhaps he could have made more of his talents but for us, Best is, quite simply, the best.
His silky skills, hard-to-fathom balance and dazzling pace, combined with a powerful and accurate shot with either foot, brought Best 179 Man United goals. He was instrumental in United’s first European Cup success and spent more than 10 years at the club.
Given he achieved what he did on pitches that wouldn’t be tolerated in League One, in an era when defenders could get away with murder (well, certainly a bit of ABH), we can only wonder how good he would have looked on modern day pitches with current refereeing standards applied.
Ryan Giggs
Giggs was long compared to Best and whilst he wasn’t quite as skilful and didn’t score as many goals, Giggs certainly trumps the Belfast Boy for longevity. Giggs played an astounding 963 games for the Red Devils, spending 23 years at the club as a player.
His pace, highly professional attitude, jinking runs and marvellous left foot made him a joy to watch. He scored many great goals for United but who can ever forget his late strike against Arsenal in the semi-final of the FA Cup in 1999?
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo, like Best, can lay claim to being a true all-time great of the game. He scores a ridiculous amount of goals and at Old Trafford we saw his development from a young show pony full of tricks to uber-productive goalscorer and creator who could win games almost single handedly.
Whilst his best years may have been spent in Madrid, he spent seven years at United, winning three Premier Leagues, the Champions League, an FA Cup and two League Cups. The 2007-2008 season saw him notch 42 goals for United, a staggering total, and many will question why he only makes third spot here.
Of course, there are many great players excluded from our list, such is the quality that United have enjoyed in these positions. David Beckham, Andrei Kanchelskis and Joe Spence (ask your Grandad!) are just some of the players who could feasibly have made the top three.
The current crop of players are showing great promise though and we’re betting that big things could be just around the corner!