Manchester United are one of the biggest football clubs in the world, so it’s no surprise that many of the world’s best players have turned out for them over the decades.
From the heroes of yesteryear like Sir Bobby Charlton and George Best to more contemporary icons like Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney, there are plenty of legends who have represented the club.
And with 20 English titles and three European Cups to their name, many of those who have represented Manchester United are among the greatest in history.
Indeed, one Old Trafford legend made the cut in Ronaldo Nazario’s all-time XI last year, and he features alongside the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona in R9’s selection.
Ronaldo picks Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo in his all-time ultimate XI
Last year, the Daily Mail interviewed Ronaldo and asked him for his all-time ultimate XI.
The Brazilian legend named himself leading the line in the front three, flanked by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo picked Gianluigi Buffon in goal, behind a back four of Roberto Carlos, Fabio Cannavaro, Paolo Maldini and Cafu.
Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona and Pele completed the XI as the midfield three in arguably one of the most star-studded XIs ever committed to video.
The story of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United move
Pre-season friendlies are often auditions for the players of a club to impress their own manager and stake a claim for a starting spot ahead of the new season.
However, in Ronaldo’s case, he landed himself a move to Manchester United after wowing the Red Devils contingent during a pre-season friendly in August 2003.
“We played against Sporting in 2003, we get in at half-time and John O’Shea must’ve needed an oxygen tank next to him,” Rio Ferdinand said on COPA90 in 2020.
“He was in bits and he was sitting there panting. We were telling him to get closer to Ronaldo and he couldn’t even answer us.
“To be fair, me, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were standing there going ‘this kid’s unbelievable, we’ve got to sign him’.
“We got on the coach and we were delayed for about an hour and a half, and then they said they were doing a deal to sign Ronaldo now.”
On 12 August 2003, less than a week after the friendly that impressed Ferguson, Man United signed Ronaldo for £12million, then a British record fee for a teenager.
In his first stint at the club, the Portuguese made 292 appearances, scoring 118 goals and developing into one of the world’s best players.
Ronaldo helped Man United win three Premier League titles in a row between 2006-07 and 2008-09, as well as the 2008 Champions League.
That year, Ronaldo also won the first of five Ballon d’Or titles, a year before he moved to Real Madrid for a then world-record fee of £80million.
| Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Real Madrid | 438 | 450 | 131 |
| Manchester United | 346 | 145 | 64 |
| Juventus FC | 134 | 101 | 22 |
| Al-Nassr FC | 97 | 86 | 19 |
| Sporting CP | 31 | 5 | 6 |
| Total | 1046 | 787 | 242 |
Ronaldo then had a stint at Juventus after Real Madrid before returning to Old Trafford in 2021, though he left the following year after a falling out with Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo is now plying his trade for Saudi Arabian giants Al-Nassr.
