Manchester United's 5 greatest players of all-time

Modified Nov 08, 2019 13:39 GMT

Who is the greatest player to have played for Manchester United?

#4 George Best

"George inspired me when I was young. He was flamboyant and exciting and able to inspire his team-mates. I actually think we were very similar players - dribblers who were able to create moments of magic."

Diego Maradona used those words to describe George Best, so it is easy to imagine what a fantastic footballer he was. The Northern Irishman was discovered by Manchester United at the age of 15 and made his debut as a 17-year-old in the 1963/64 season, where he scored six goals from 26 appearances. Under Sir Matt Busby’s guidance, Best continued to develop and soon became one of the brightest talents in world football.

He had a flamboyance about his game that was bright and pleasing to the eye and he was heavily reliant on his brilliant dribbling skills. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest dribblers in the history of football. Best was fast, two-footed and knew the way to the goal very well, which meant he was a nightmare to defend against.

Best went on to appear 470 times for Manchester United, scoring 179 goals. He won two First Division trophies, two Charity Shields and one European Cup during that time. He was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1968 and has inspired a generation to get the football and try to beat a defender. George Best is a Manchester United legend and he is the fourth best player to have played for the Red Devils.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by A. Ayush Chatterjee