Wayne Rooney Manchester UnitedGetty Images

Manchester United all time top scorers: Rooney leads the way

Manchester United are one of the biggest and most successful clubs in world football and they have seen some all-time greats don their jersey throughout their illustrious history.

But who were some of the best goal-scorers to ever play for the Red Devils?

Wayne Rooney is widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation and holds the record for most goals scored for Man Utd. His 253 goals in 559 appearances for the club during his 13-year spell at the club from 2004 produced multiple memorable moments. The England international won the Golden Boy Award in 2004 and was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2022.

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Sir Bobby Charlton, the former Ballon d'Or and World Cup winner, sits second in the all-time top goalscorer list for Manchester United with 249 goals. He held the record for most goals scored until Rooney broke the record in 2017.

The illustrious Denis Law completes the podium with an impressive 237 goals in just over 400 appearances in all competitions.

Denis Law, Sir Bobby Charlton and George BestGetty

Ryan Giggs had a really long career at Manchester United and is their all-time record appearance maker with 963 games played for United, during which he scored 168 goals, placing him in seventh position in United's all-time goal scorers list. Giggs was the only player to score in each of the first 21 years of the Premier League.

Paul Scholes completes the top 10 with 155 goals scored during his 20-year-long career at United. He made the third-highest number of appearances at the club (718) during his time and is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of our times.

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo is the only active member in the top 20 with 142 goals scored in 339 appearances in his two stints at the club. He is just 9 goals behind lethal Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 during his time at United.

Cristiano Ronaldo 2007

Former Man United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, scored 126 goals in 366 appearances and his late winner to complete the treble for United against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final is forever etched in Man Utd's folklore.

Here are the top 20 all-time goalscorers for Manchester United in full.

Manchester United's top 20 goalscorers of all time

PositionPlayerGoalsMatchesYears

1

Wayne Rooney

253

559

2004-2017

2

Bobby Charlton

249

758

1956-1973

3

Denis Law

237

404

1962-1973

4

Jack Rowley

211

424

1937-1955

5

Dennis Viollet

179

293

1952-1962

=5

George Best

179

470

1962-1974

7

Joe Spence

168

510

1919-1933

=7

Ryan Giggs

168

963

1991-2014

9

Mark Hughes

163

467

1983-1986, 1988-1995

10

Paul Scholes

155

718

1994-2011, 2012-2013

11

Ruud van Nistelrooy

150

219

2001-2006

12

Stan Pearson

148

343

1937-1954

13

David Heard

145

265

1961-1968

14

Cristiano Ronaldo

145

344

2003-2009, 2021-

15

Tommy Taylor

131

191

1953-1958

16

Brian McClair

127

471

1987-1998

17

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

126

366

1996-2007

18

Marcus Rashford

124

369

2015-

19

Andy Cole

121

275

1995-2001

20

Sandy Turnbull

101

247

1907-1915

21

Joe Cassidy

100

174

1893-1900

=21

George Wall

100

319

1906-1915

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