Manchester United's Greatest 23-Man Squad Of The Premier League Era

By 2000, it was clear that United needed a new world class striker, despite the continued efforts of the quartet of Cole, Yorke, Sheringham and Solskjaer that had brought the Treble to Old Trafford. An £18.5 million deal was made to sign Ruud van Nistelrooy, but had to eventually be delayed a year because of injury concerns.

Eventually arriving a year later, van Nistelrooy made the centre forward role his own during a period where Sir Alex Ferguson opted for a five-man midfield more often than not, scoring 23 league goals in his debut season (including in eight consecutive games), followed by 25 and 20 in the two campaigns that followed. Ultimately another player lured from Manchester to Madrid, van Nistelrooy nevertheless stands (along with Wayne Rooney) as one of the club's definitive post-Millennium strikers.