The five fastest Man Utd players to reach 100 goals – Where does Bruno Fernandes rank?
Bruno Fernandes has become the latest player to score 100 goals for Manchester United, but who holds the record for reaching that figure in the fewest number of matches?
In terms of Fernandes, it took him 296 games to score 100 goals, making him the 18th fastest player to reach that milestone for the Red Devils.
For context, it took George Best 278 games, Cristiano Ronaldo 253 games, Wayne Rooney 242 games and Andy Cole 218 games.
While all of those numbers are impressive, none of them managed to crack the top five of our list.
Here are the five players from United’s history who scored 100 goals in the fewest number of matches.
5. Bobby Charlton – 171 games
Considering that Charlton wasn’t an out-and-out forward, it’s hugely impressive that it only took him 171 games to reach 100 goals.
The attacking midfielder spent 17 seasons at the club and scored 249 goals in 758 appearances across all competitions.
He was particularly prolific during his younger years and he enjoyed his best scoring season in 1958–59, aged 21, when he scored 29 goals across all competitions.
During his 17 seasons at the club, he scored more than 10 goals in 13 of them.
4. Joe Cassidy – 163 games
Cassidy played for the Red Devils between 1895 and 1900, when the club was known as Newton Heath.
While historical statistics are difficult to verify in much depth, he scored exactly 100 goals for the club and needed 163 games to do so.
3. Tommy Taylor – 145 games
After making a name for himself with Barnsley in the early fifties, Taylor made the move to Old Trafford in March 1953 for a fee of £29,999.
He made an instant impact upon his arrival in Manchester, scoring twice on his debut and ending his first season with 10 goals in 11 appearances.
Taylor continued to provide the goods for United as it only took him 145 games to reach the 100-goal milestone.
In total, he scored 131 goals in 191 games before he tragically died in the Munich air disaster in 1958, aged 26.
2. Ruud van Nistelrooy – 131 games
The only player to make an appearance on this list who’s played for United in the 21st century.
Van Nistelrooy was the epitome of a fox in the box and his record of 100 goals in 131 games was a modern record, until Cristiano Ronaldo broke it in 2011 when playing for Real Madrid.
“I loved playing with Ruud. I loved playing with that type of player,” Paul Scholes said on The Overlap when discussing the Dutch forward.
“I loved playing with Ruud because I knew what he wanted without speaking to him, if you know what I mean.
“I don’t think it’s true [that I was the only one who spot his runs], but I just knew what he wanted and at that time I was playing number 10 really, I wasn’t playing in centre-midfield.
“Do you know what, football is all about that, your relationships with people. I don’t think you see a lot of that these days.”
1. Denis Law – 110 games
The Scotsman only needed 110 games to score 100 goals for United, a record which has stood strong since the sixties.
In the modern era, only Ronaldo for Real Madrid and Erling Haaland for Man City have scored 100 goals in fewer games than it took Law.
His most prolific season came in 1963–64, when he scored an impressive 46 goals across all competitions. He was so good that year that he won the Ballon d’Or, ahead of the likes of Eusebio, Luis Suarez and Lev Yashin.
READ NEXT: This former Man Utd XI is currently thriving away from Old Trafford: Rashford, McTominay…
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player to play for Chelsea and Man Utd in the PL?