Ranking the 10 Best Wingers in Manchester United History

Manchester United have a rich legacy when it comes to wingers. The best wingers are footballing magicians who conjure something out of nothing and provide entertainment and excitement. 

A winger in full flow is one of the most beautiful sights in the game, and this list of United greats contains some of the finest ever proponents of the art of wing play.

Their order will certainly be a matter for debate; they have been ranked here using a combination of their impact, talent and inherent abilities, with a little personal bias thrown into the mix.

After all, if being a winger is more of an art than a science, perhaps ranking them should be too.

Billy Meredith was described as "Manchester United's first superstar" by Brendon Williams of BBC Wales.

He appears on this list in 10th place as a gesture to his impact on United, although it is impossible to stack up the abilities of a footballer from the early 20th century against those who played in the latter part of that century and the early part of this.

Meredith, who played for both Manchester clubs during his career, would regularly be seen with a toothpick in his mouth during games, which, frankly, sounds like a health and safety nightmare, but there was no denying his impact. 

According to the club's website, Meredith "gained national recognition for his trickery on the wing and championed players’ rights during a remarkable career spanning the best part of 30 years."

He helped guide United to their first league title, and belongs on this list for being "United's first footballing legend," also per ManUtd.com.

Part of Ron Atkinson's exciting team of the mid-80s, Jesper Olsen was at United between 1984 and 1988. 

He was a key part of United's cup success during that time, and some of my fondest memories of watching United as a child involved Olsen's trickery on the wing. 

He played for United 176 times, scoring 24 goals for a United side that promised much but ultimately didn't under-delivered.

He was also a key part of the Denmark's brilliant 1986 World Cup side, although his back pass against Spain began Denmark's collapse in that tournament, as covered by Rob Smyth and Lars Eriksen in The Guardian in 2009.

Olsen was every inch the winger, a brilliant dribbler and a fine crosser of the ball, and he was a joy to watch when he was at his best.

Lee Sharpe was an absolute breath of fresh air during his early United career. As the video above shows, he played the game with abandon and joie de vivre, as embodied by his exuberant goal celebrations. 

There was much more to his game than the "Sharpey Shuffle," though. Sharpe was a precursor to Ryan Giggs in Sir Alex Ferguson's first great United side. 

He was electric at his best, and he remained a key member of Sir Alex's squad until the end of his United career in 1996.

By that time, he had won three league titles and made significant contributions to each of them.

When Lee Sharpe was on the left flank, Andrei Kanchelskis was usually on the flank opposite him. Between 1991 and 1995, Kanchelskis' dynamic style, incredible pace, and determined approach made him a huge favourite among the United faithful. 

Kanchelskis' departure in the summer of 1995 came as a shock to many fans; he was sold along with Paul Ince and Mark Hughes to make room in the side for the emerging "Class of '92."

With not much to separate them, he edges Sharpe in this ranking because he scored his 36 goals in 161 games for United, whereas it took Sharpe 263 games to score the same number.

The successor to George Best is not an easy role in which to be cast, but Willie Morgan made an admirable attempt at playing the part. 

In fact, he had a big hand in being cast in the part, given that he asked for Best's number seven shirt when he arrived at United. 

Speaking to Stuart Mathieson in the Manchester Evening News Morgan said: 

Then Sir Matt said: ‘Well it’s all sorted and we are happy with the fee, but is there anything that you would like to ask me?’ Well, I have always worn the No. 7 shirt,' I replied.

‘No problem,’ said Mr Busby. ‘You can have the No. 7 shirt and we’ll give George the No. 11 shirt, I know he won’t mind’.

The bravery required to ask for George Best's shirt number in the summer of 1968 was matched by his bravery on the pitch. Morgan was another tricky, skilful winger who played 296 times for the club and got fans excited enough to record the song featured in the video above.

Steve Coppell was described by his first Manchester United manager, Tommy Docherty, as "one of the best players I ever had the privilege of working with," per the club's website.

The article featuring that quote says of him: 

On the face of it, Coppell was every inch the traditional winger: a touchline-hugger, terrorising full-backs, scoring goals and whipping in crosses from the byline. What separated him from the typecast was that, unlike others of his ilk, he was not prone to lapses in form, concentration or confidence.

In fact, during his eight-year Old Trafford career, Coppell was so utterly dependable, so totally trustworthy and relentlessly reliable, that there were times when the routine excellence of his displays made you wonder if, deploying secret technology from their seats in the dug-out, United's coaches might be directing his movements by remote control.

It is that consistency that earns him so high a place on this list. Coppell featured for a United side for whom success was not guaranteed, and yet he was still able to shine week after week.

David Beckham was a magnificent right-sided midfielder. He is perhaps the least "winger-like" of the players on this list, and yet his one great gift as a wide player earns him a justified place in this pantheon. 

There are many fine crossers of the ball on this list of great wingers, but Beckham surely must be in contention for being the finest. Pinpoint cross after pinpoint cross meant he rarely had to beat his man to damage the opposition.

He also scored plenty of goals and provided set pieces of almost unmatched accuracy, including two fairly crucial corners, quite late in the game, in quite an important European Cup match...

Cristiano Ronaldo may be the best player on this list. However, he is docked two places from the number one spot on the grounds that, well, he is not really a winger. 

Ronaldo epitomises the contemporary wide forward, who is more likely to come inside and score than to take on a full back and whip in a cross. 

Of course, Ronaldo is higher up the list than many more traditional wingers because he was so incredibly effective at the scoring part. He was no slouch in the assist department, either, managing to find time to contribute eight in the 2007/08 season, during which he scored 42.

The season before that, when he played more recognisably as a winger, he provided 20 assists. Though he is certainly in the running in any discussions about United's greatest player, he will have to settle for third here.

George Best was an astoundingly brilliant footballer. 

A winger who played in an era when full-backs had license to kick lumps out of attackers, he nonetheless excelled with grace, poise and a fluid style that made him as unpredictable to his team-mates as he was to defenders. 

He scored 179 times in his 470 games for the club, and quite a few of those goals were breathtaking. 

It seems right to leave the final word on him to his first United manager.

As Sir Matt Busby said, per the Mail Online: "It was a very simple team talk. All I used to say was, 'Whenever possible, give the ball to George.'"

Ryan Giggs edges out Best because—although the very highest level of Best's game may just edge out the very highest level of Giggs'—the Welshman sustained his level of performance over a length of time that may never be achieved again. 

In the 963 games he played for the club, he scored 168 goals and provided many, many assists. 

And it is not just his longevity that is remarkable but the sheer quality he possessed. His game changed a great deal over the years, but when he was an out-and-out winger, he was a brilliant one. 

As Sir Alex Ferguson said of him, per The Guardian:

I remember the first time I saw him. He was 13 and just floated over the ground like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind.

Every now and again, he still looked like that when he was 40. There are so many iconic moments from his United career, and he was crucially involved in such a remarkable amount of success.

To give the number one spot to anyone other than Giggsy would have felt like a disservice.