Chelsea vs. Manchester United: All-Time Combined XI | Premier League 2019-20

Striker: Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney stands as United's all-time leading goalscorer

This was another extremely difficult choice given United and Chelsea have called upon great strikers such as Didier Drogba, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Diego Costa and Eric Cantona during the Premier League era, but in the end, one man stands above the rest. His name? Wayne Rooney.

Sure, there’s an argument to be made that Rooney – who stands as the all-time record goalscorer for both United and the England national team – wasn’t a classic centre-forward, nor was he as prolific as some of his contemporaries at times, but his statistics are essentially second-to-none and he has the longevity that none of those aforementioned players do.

After joining the Red Devils from boyhood club Everton in the summer of 2004 for a fee of £25m at the age of just 18, Rooney made an instant impact – scoring a hat-trick on his debut in a Champions League match with Fenerbahce – and from there he quickly became a United hero when he helped to down Arsenal on his 19th birthday, ending their long unbeaten run.

Always a key player at Old Trafford regardless of his striking partners – they ranged from Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez to Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen and Robin van Persie – Rooney ended up spending a total of 13 seasons with the Red Devils, appearing in 559 games and scoring 253 goals – averaging nearly a goal every other game. His 183 Premier League strikes meanwhile put him behind only Alan Shearer in the competition’s all-time goalscoring table.

Over that period Rooney won a total of 11 major trophies, including 5 Premier League titles, 1 FA Cup and the Champions League in 2007-08. He was named in the Premier League’s Team of the Year on 3 occasions, was named the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009-10, and in 2011, he came 5th in the voting for the prestigious Ballon d’Or.