Wayne Rooney (2013-17)
Centre-forward only statistics: Games 63 Goals 26 Assists 14 Mins 5,196
Entered the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era with tenuous status after David Moyes billed him as back-up to Robin van Persie. At 27 a fading force but Rooney finished as United’s record scorer with 253 goals.
Robin van Persie (2013-15)
Games 52 Goals 29 Assists 6 Mins 4,180
After a 30-goal season in 2012-13, 26 of which drove United to the title, 29 goals in 52 centre-forward appearances in the next two campaigns underscored an elite talent, particularly as Ferguson’s retirement deflated him. Moyes was sacked after 34 league games in 2013-14 and Van Persie left at the end of Louis van Gaal’s first season.
Danny Welbeck (2013-14)
Games 17 Goals 8 Assists 1 Mins 1,271
Eight goals in 17 centre-forward appearances is impressive but he was gone just over a season after Ferguson owing to the presence of Van Persie and Rooney. The lad from Longsight moved to Arsenal in September 2014, then to Watford (August 2019) and Brighton (October 2020).
James Wilson (2013-16)
Games 7 Goals 4 Assists 0 Mins 306
At 18 he scored twice on debut in a 3-1 victory over Hull on 6 May 2014. His next goal came the following January, in a 2-0 win at QPR, before a final one in the 3-0 FA Cup victory over Cambridge. After various loans he signed for Aberdeen in 2019 and is now at Northampton in League One.
Will Keane (2013-16)
Games 1 Goals 0 Assists 0 Mins 4
Replaced Morgan Schneiderlin on 86 minutes during the 2-1 Premier League loss at Sunderland on 13 February 2016. Left six months later for Hull and made a handful of top-flight appearances there. Part of the Preston team beaten by Aston Villa in the FA Cup last weekend.
Javier Hernández (2013-16)
Games 33 Goals 9 Assists 4 Mins 1,414
The Mexican, nicknamed Chicharito, scored 14 times from No 9 in Ferguson’s last term and managed only nine goals in the next three years as he became a ghost of the footballer past. Still playing, at 36, for Guadalajara in his homeland.
Radamel Falcao (2014-15)
Games 29 Goals 4 Assists 5 Mins 1,498
The Colombian arrived in September 2014, on loan from Monaco, but never fully recovered from a knee injury that had ruled him out of the World Cup in Brazil. Combined with the signing of Ángel Di María’s for a then British record of £59.7m, United’s summer business was described as “galáctico”.
Marcus Rashford (2015-)
Games 143 Goals 55 Assists 21 Mins 10,409
An enigma with no wish to play No 9 despite having the characteristics to thrive there. Rashford blows cold and occasionally hot but 55 goals in 143 outings shows how good he can be. On loan at Aston Villa after a falling-out with Ruben Amorim, who replaced Ten Hag in October.
Memphis Depay (2015-17)
Games 1 Goals 1 Assists 0 Mins 90
Depay’s sole No 9 outing featured an 11th-minute opener in a 2-1 win at Watford on 21 November 2015. An overall total of seven goals in 55 games indicated why he left, for Lyon, in January 2015. Now at Corinthians and, with spells at Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, plus 47 goals in 100 Netherlands games, on the CV, he might have prospered under Ferguson.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2016-18)
Games 51 Goals 29 Assists 10 Mins 4,025
Arrived as a free agent in July 2016; he turned 35 that October and may be the finest United No 9 of this era. But he fired then flamed, illustrating United’s failure to project-build in the past 12 years. Age and knee ligament damage, suffered in the April 2017 Europa League quarter-final knockout of Anderlecht, were factors.
Alexis Sánchez (2016-18)
Games 6 Goals 0 Assists 1 Mins 328
After lighting up Arsenal he was sucked into the vortex of United’s lost decade (and counting), the Sánchez of runs and cool-eyed finishing replaced by an apparent doppelganger cast as a chump with ball at feet. Left for Inter, first on loan, now at Udinese.
Romelu Lukaku (2017-19)
Games 96 Goals 42 Assists 12 Mins 7,073
José Mourinho, Van Gaal’s successor in 2016, signed the Belgian for £75m and a goal every 2.28 matches was creditable. During Lukaku’s last season Mourinho was sacked and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjær. He, like Sánchez, moved to Inter and remains in Italy, in his case with Napoli.
Mason Greenwood (2018-22)
Games 36 Goals 10 Assists 2 Mins 2,263
Rated at United as the finest homegrown talent since the Class of 92, a potential leader of the attack for a decade or more, he left by mutual agreement in 2023. Charges of attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault had been dropped in February of that year. After a loan at Getafe he joined Marseille.
Edinson Cavani (2020-22)
Games 58 Goals 19 Assists 6 Mins 3,079
A summer 2020 free transfer who arrived in October because of Covid, at the age of 33. Nineteen goals in 58 games is modest but he closed his first season with 10 in 11, including the equaliser in United’s Europa League final against Villarreal, which ended in defeat on penalties. At 38 he is playing for Boca Juniors.
Odion Ighalo (2020-21)
Games 20 Goals 5 Assists 1 Mins 756
The Nigerian took a pay cut to seal a dream loan from Shanghai Shenhua in January 2020. Among his five goals was United’s goal of the month for March 2020, an effort at Lask Linz involving ball-juggling and a shot from the edge of the box. Shortly after leaving United he moved to Saudi Arabia, where he still plays.
Cristiano Ronaldo (2021-23)
Games 54 Goals 37 Assists 5 Mins 4,242
A €20m arrival from Juventus in August 2021 who squeezed out Cavani, and, possibly, Solskjær, who might have signed Declan Rice instead and thus avoided that November’s sacking when results plummeted. Ronaldo’s walkouts during a summer 2022 friendly with Rayo Vallecano and a win over Tottenham that October made him another ill-judged signing.
Wout Weghorst (2022-23)
Games 23 Goals 2 Assists 3 Mins 1,348
The 6ft 4in Dutchman’s finest moment was the run that created Marcus Rashford’s opener in the 2023 Carabao Cup final triumph over Newcastle. A return of zero in the league for the man on loan from Burnley illuminated a middling ability. He is now with Ajax.
Rasmus Højlund (2023-)
Games 82 Goals 24 Assists 4 Mins 5,438
Has struggled since Erik ten Hag signed him for £72m in August 2023 but so have a side who registered 57 Premier League goals last term, the Dane contributing eight. Had to wait until a 3-2 Boxing Day win over Aston Villa for his first league goal. This season, Højlund went 16 games without scoring until his opener in the 3-0 win at Leicester before the March international break.
Joshua Zirkzee (2024-)
Games 35 Goals 4 Assists 2 Mins 1,428
A 9, 10, 9.5 or 10.5? According to Ten Hag and Ruben Amorim the Dutchman is a centre-forward, given that only nine of his 44 United appearances have been in other positions. A clumsy touch and lack of pace can be evident.
Statistics: Transfermarkt