With no football to keep us entertained at the moment, it’s worth a look back through the glorious history of the game, and we’ve taken on the rather enjoyable challenge of putting together a list of the best Manchester United midfielders of the Premier League era.
To say there have been a few all-time greats at Old Trafford in this time is a pretty big understatement, as you’ll see with this little trip down memory lane.
Picking first place was perhaps the toughest challenge of all – see what you make of our top ten below…
10) Juan Mata
While we haven’t always seen the best of Juan Mata at Manchester United, he’s a player of real quality who’s rarely let the side down with his creativity, work rate and eye for the occasional important goal, none more so than his strike in the 2016 FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace.
9) Darren Fletcher
An underrated member of one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s best sides in the late 00s and early 10s, Darren Fletcher more than played his part in United’s remarkable consistency over that period, and if not for health problems would surely have gone on to star for the club for a great deal longer. A hard worker who had under-appreciated technique as well, the former Scotland international firmly deserves a place alongside more celebrated legends on this list.
8) Park Ji-sung
A real cult hero at United to this day, Park Ji-sung was another underrated hard worker and battler on the pitch for Man Utd. The South Korean put in a particularly famous performance to man mark prime Andrea Pirlo out of a game, showing that on his day he could go toe to toe with pretty much anyone.
7) Paul Ince
A hugely important part of Ferguson’s early successful sides, Paul Ince perhaps soured his reputation with Red Devils fans by going on to play for their rivals Liverpool later in his career, but the former England international surely deserves to be remembered as one of the club’s best in recent times.
6) Nani
It can be hard to define a midfielder at times, with Nani on this list but Cristiano Ronaldo not, even though the pair did technically play in similar positions. Our argument would be that Ronaldo, even when starting from out wide, was mostly shifting into central positions to score bucket-loads of goals, whereas Nani played as a more traditional winger for much of his United career – and a damn good one at that, with his pace, skill, delivery and goal contribution making him a nightmare for Premier League defences at his peak.
5) Michael Carrick
A superbly intelligent ball-player from deep, Michael Carrick did not play for England as much as he deserved to, but most MUFC fans will no doubt remember him as a vital cog for some of their most successful teams. The master of keeping it simple, Carrick spent 12 years at Old Trafford and gave his team-mates a strong foundation on which to shine, offering both protection to his defenders and quality service to those in front of him.
4) David Beckham
A masterful crosser of the ball and scorer of beautiful free-kicks, who could deny David Beckham a place high up on this list? The former England captain was world class for many years at United and would be top of the pile for most other clubs, if not for being up against so many other legends in Manchester.
3) Ryan Giggs
A joy to watch for so long, Ryan Giggs gave an incredible 24 years of service to the Man Utd first-team, playing 963 games in all competitions. The Welshman started out as a pacey, tricky winger who scored some stunning solo goals, before adapting his game later in his career to shine in a more central position, showing great tactical intelligence to become more of a playmaker and remain a valuable member of the team right until he retired in 2014.
2) Paul Scholes
This was not easy, and on pure talent alone Paul Scholes would surely top this list, but in terms of big-game impact and leadership on the pitch, it had to be Roy Keane in first place. Scholes, however, was a majestic player and one of the most technically gifted English footballers of all time. The former playmaker did the business for the Red Devils in 20 years in their first-team, and is the scorer of some of the all-time Premier League belters, with memorable volleys against Bradford and Aston Villa particular highlights from a great career.
1) Roy Keane
The captain’s captain, Roy Keane was the best possible on-pitch mouthpiece Ferguson could have wished for. The Irishman demanded perfection from all around him and never let success get to his head, coming back more and more determined all the time and picking up quite the trophy haul to show for it. But it would be an insult to Keane to suggest he’s only top for his battling qualities, as at his peak he was a superb all-round footballer as well, with his passing and intelligence on the ball making him a hugely important part of how United played. Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard and others were all great, but there will never be another quite like Keane.