Wayne Rooney wrote his name in history as a Manchester United great during an eventful career.
When he signed Wayne Rooney in 2004, legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson made a bold prediction, tipping him to emulate Eric Cantona.
In terms of sheer numbers, Rooney surpassed Cantona, and even toppled Sir Bobby Charlton as the club’s leading goalscorer.
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With 253 strikes, Rooney was presented with a golden boot by Sir Bobby, after he toppled his previous best of 249.
Rooney’s achievements are well known at this point – but there is another record he set that does not get a lot of attention.
Football - UEFA Europa League - Group A - Manchester United v Feyenoord
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Wayne Rooney is Manchester United’s all-time leading European scorer
On the way to becoming Manchester United’s leading goalscorer, Wayne Rooney also set a record for being the club’s highest ever scorer in European competitions.
Rooney left it late to accomplish this one, scoring his 39th European goal in his final season, 2016/17.
The goal came in Manchester United’s 4-0 victory over Feyenoord at Old Trafford on November 24, 2016 in the Europa League. United went on to win the competition that season.
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It was his 248th in a United shirt, taking him to within one of Sir Bobby Charlton’s overall record, while edging him one clear of ex-teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy in terms of European goals.
⚽ Manchester United Top European Goalscorers (All-Time)
Rank Player Goals
1 Wayne Rooney 39
2 Ruud van Nistelrooy 38
3 Ryan Giggs 29
4 Denis Law 28
T-5 Marcus Rashford 26
T-5 Paul Scholes 26
7 Cristiano Ronaldo 24
8 Sir Bobby Charlton 22
T-9 Bruno Fernandes 22
T-9 Ole Gunnar Solskjær 20
Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals for United, with 38 coming in European competition.
But unlike Rooney who won the Champions League in 2008, Van Nistelrooy was unable to win the grandest prize in European football, despite his scoring exploits.
All-time record appearance maker Ryan Giggs racked up 29 European goals, while Marcus Rashford more recently managed to tie level with Paul Scholes.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted 24 goals across two spells for United. With impressive records for Real Madrid and Juventus, Ronaldo is the all-time Champions League record scorer with 140 in the competition in total.
Bruno Fernandes has scored 22 goals in Europe for United. 15 of these were in the Europa League, and seven in the Champions League.
Which one striker at their peak would you re-sign for Manchester United right now?
How Wayne Rooney set the record
Wayne Rooney kicked off his Manchester United career in the best way possible, with a spectacular hat-trick in the Champions League against Fenerbahce.
He went on to score in the Champions League Final in 2011 in a losing effort against Barcelona.
A full breakdown of Rooney’s 39 European goals by opponent is below. He scored the most past AC Milan, five in total.
✅ Rooney’s 39 European Goals
Goals Opponent Competition(s)
5 AC Milan UCL
4 Fenerbahçe UCL / UEL
3 CSKA Moscow UCL
3 Roma UCL
3 Celtic UCL
2 Bayer Leverkusen UCL
2 Olympiacos UCL
2 Sporting CP UCL
2 Basel UCL
1 Barcelona UCL Final
1 Villarreal UCL
1 Porto UCL
1 Bayern Munich UCL
1 Lille UCL
1 Beşiktaş UCL
1 Dinamo Kyiv UCL
1 Oţelul Galaţi UCL
1 Club Brugge UEL
1 Feyenoord UEL
1 Zorya Luhansk UEL
39 TOTAL GOALS
After setting the European record in 2016, manager at the time Jose Mourinho urged fans to enjoy him while they could.
He said: “People like him [Rooney] don’t need to answer any more, just enjoy a few more years of his career and playing the best he can. That’s what he tries to do.”
Teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic echoed these comments adding: “We should appreciate him for the player he is, what he did.
“I don’t see many players from England who have had the same career as him. They should show more respect for him.”
This past season, Manchester United failed to even qualify for European football. This was a problem the team had to contend with in 2014/15 too. If not for that, Rooney’s tally could have been even higher.