Ranking the 10 best Man Utd signings in Premier League history: Ronaldo 3rd, Solskjaer 9th…
While Manchester United are renowned for their brilliant academy graduates, they wouldn’t have won 13 Premier League titles without using the transfer market.
Last week, we looked at the 10 worst Premier League signings made by United, and most of them are in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
But Ferguson made a number of smart moves in the transfer market, and we’ve ranked the top 10 signings made by United since 1992 – starting with two heroes from their 1999 Treble-winning side.
10) Andy Cole
One of four British-record-breaking transfers on this list, Cole joined United from Newcastle in January 1995 following a breakdown in his relationship with Kevin Keegan.
United paid the Magpies a £6million transfer fee, while the £1million-rated Keith Gillespie moved in the opposite direction.
The striker helped United finish above his former employers in the 1995/96 Double-winning campaign, although a broken leg limited his involvement when they retained the Premier League title in 1996/97.
He recovered and went on to form a lethal partnership with Dwight Yorke in the 1998/99 Treble-winning season, netting 24 goals in all competitions.
Cole won another two Premier League titles before moving to Blackburn Rovers in December 2001, with a record of 121 goals in 275 appearances for United.
9) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Having identified Alan Shearer as their top transfer target in the summer of 1996, United were left disappointed when the striker decided to join boyhood club Newcastle.
They then turned their attention to a little-known striker from Norway, signing Solskjaer for just 10% of the then world-record £15million fee that the Magpies spent on Shearer.
But any concerns over his pedigree were banished when the Baby-Faced Assassin found the back of the net just six minutes into his United debut.
That was the first of 126 goals he scored in a United shirt, but the most iconic is undoubtedly the injury-time winner against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final.
Alongside that European medal, the Norway international also won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and an Intercontinental Cup before hanging up his boots in 2007.
8) Edwin van der Sar
Following Peter Schmeichel’s decision to leave United at the end of the 1998/99 season, a procession of goalkeepers tried and failed to fill the void left by the great Dane.
He wasn’t properly replaced until United purchased Van der Sar from Fulham for a measly £2million fee in the summer of 2005.
The Netherlands international was an integral part of the side that returned United to the summit of English football, winning the Premier League title in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
He famously kept a clean sheet in 14 successive Premier League matches between November 2008 and February 2009, which remains a competition record, and won the Golden Glove that season with 21 shutouts.
United also reached three Champions League finals during his six-year spell between the sticks, winning the first of those due to the goalkeeper’s decisive penalty save in the shootout victory over Chelsea in 2008.
7) Ruud van Nistelrooy
Van Nistelrooy initially looked set to join United from PSV in the summer of 2000, but the deal collapsed after the club’s medical staff expressed concerns over his injured knee.
It was eventually completed a year later for a then British-record transfer fee of £19million, and boy was he worth the wait.
The striker won both the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year awards in his debut season and then picked up the Premier League Golden Boot in the following campaign.
He was unfortunate that his time at Old Trafford coincided with United experiencing a period of transition, with the club winning just one Premier League title, an FA Cup and a League Cup in that five-year spell.
But his record of 150 goals in 219 appearances in all competitions underlines his individual brilliance and also puts him 11th on United’s all-time top goalscorers’ list.
6) Nemanja Vidic
Vidic was a relative unknown when United signed the then-24-year-old from Spartak Moscow for just £7million in January 2006, and his arrival passed with little fanfare.
He initially struggled to acclimatise to Premier League football in his first half-season, but turned things around and became a fan favourite at Old Trafford due to his full-blooded style of defending.
His formidable centre-back partnership with Rio Ferdinand was a bedrock on which United won five Premier League titles, a Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup between the late-2000s and early 2010s.
He was named in the PFA Team of the Year on four occasions and is the only defender to win the Premier League Player of the Season award more than once, claiming the honour in 2008/09 and 2010/11.
The Serbia international, who made exactly 300 appearances for the club across all competitions, also wore the captain’s armband for four years until his departure in 2014.
5) Rio Ferdinand
Unlike his fellow centre-back, Ferdinand made headline news when he arrived at United in the summer of 2002 for a then-British record fee of £29.1million from arch-rivals Leeds United.
Eyebrows were raised at United paying such a hefty price, but the fee was soon forgotten as his debut season at Old Trafford brought the first of his six Premier League winners’ medals.
The England international racked up 455 appearances in his 12-year spell at the club and is widely regarded as one of the best ball-playing centre-backs of all time.
“He was a great player, without a doubt the best centre-half I ever played with,” United legend Paul Scholes said. “I would say for a time as well he was the best centre-half in the world.
“He was such a pleasure to play with and play in front of. To play in front of him, he made your job so easy.”
4) Wayne Rooney
Following his performances at Euro 2004, Rooney became the hottest property in the game, and United paid £27million to secure his signature on deadline day.
The fee put a lot of pressure on his young shoulders, but he immediately proved his worth by scoring a hat-trick against Fenerbahce on his United debut.
The striker went on to score another 250 goals for the club over the following 13 years, surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton as United’s all-time leading goalscorer.
He also holds the club record for the most appearances by a non-academy graduate with 559 outings, while Ryan Giggs is the only player to register more assists for United.
The Everton academy graduate returned to his boyhood club in 2017, having won five Premier League titles, three League Cups, the Europa League, an FA Cup, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup at Old Trafford.
3) Cristiano Ronaldo
One season of first-team football and an impressive performance in a pre-season friendly was enough to convince United to pay Sporting CP £12.4million for Ronaldo in the summer of 2003.
The then-18-year-old arrived at Old Trafford as a raw talent with a bag of tricks, but the following six seasons saw him develop into a world-beating superstar.
His 42-goal campaign in 2007/08 led United to a Premier League and Champions League double, while he became just the fourth United player to win the Ballon d’Or.
The Portugal international picked up his third Premier League winners’ medal at the end of the 2008/09 season before joining Real Madrid in a then-record-breaking £80million deal.
“Cristiano was the most gifted player I managed,” Ferguson said. “He surpassed all the other great ones I coached at United – and I had many. We helped Ronaldo to be the player he was, and he helped us recapture the excitement and self-expression of Manchester United teams.”
2) Roy Keane
United identified Keane as the ideal long-term successor to Bryan Robson and paid a then-British record fee of £3.75million to bring him to Old Trafford in the summer of 1993.
The midfielder was United’s engine room and driving force as they dominated the 1990s and early 2000s, winning seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups, the Champions League and an Intercontinental Cup.
While he missed the 1999 Champions League final through suspension, his performance against Juventus in the semi-final second leg has gone down as one of the greatest individual displays in United history.
The following season saw the Republic of Ireland international win both the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year awards.
His time at United came to an acrimonious end in November 2005 following that MUTV interview, but it takes nothing away from the incredible career he had in a red shirt.
1) Eric Cantona
After being pipped to the last ever First Division title by Leeds in 1992, United signed Cantona from their cross-Pennine rivals a few months later in a £1.2million deal.
The transfer was met with initial scepticism, but his arrival saw United end a 26-year wait for a league title in 1993, and it kicked off a period of unprecedented success.
He won another three Premier League titles at Old Trafford, while also scoring a brace in the 1994 FA Cup final and the winning goal in the 1996 FA Cup final.
The only season the Red Devils didn’t win the league during his five-year spell at Old Trafford was 1994/95, when the France international missed half the campaign through suspension.
He registered 82 goals and 63 assists in 185 appearances in all competitions before hanging up his boots, although his impact off the pitch was just as significant as his contribution on it.
“I remember Eric’s first day, and after the training session had finished he asked for a goalkeeper, two players from the junior team who were still there, and a few footballs,” Ferguson said. “I said to him what did he need those for, and he said he wanted to practice.
“When word got back to the other players, one or two more turned up the next day for an extra session and so the number grew. That was all because of Cantona’s work ethic and influence.”
