When Alex Ferguson delves into the transfer market the world watches. In his 23 years at Manchester United he has pulled off some coups, signed some gem and wasted money on players who could not perform under the glare of old Trafford’s bright lights. But when Fergie gets it right the rest of the world knows about it as these players add another dimension to the already awesome teams Fergie can build so here are Fergie’s 10 best signings whilst at Old Trafford.

Ryan Giggs

Originally on the books of rivals Man City, Ryan Giggs was snapped up by Fergie when Old Trafford Steward Harold Wood personally told him, “He’s with City at the moment, and if you lose him you’ll regret it”.

After sending scouts to watch Giggs, he underwent a trial over the 1986 Christmas period and signed as youth player with United on his 14th birthday in November. 817 appearances and 150 goals later, Fergie must be thanking his lucky stars that Wood felt so passionately about the Welsh Wing Wizard.

Roy Keane

Signed from under Kenny Dalglish’s nose in 1993 Roy Keane would go on to become United’s most successful captain and an important figure in the middle of the park. Fergie’s mouth piece on field, it was Keane’s gutsy performance against Juventus in the 1999 Champions League semi final that ensured United overturned a 2-0 deficit and won 3-2, thus making it to the memorable final in 1999.

Peter Schmeichel

The ‘Great Dane’ was called the bargain of the century by Sir Alex Ferguson who brought him to the club for a paltry £550,000 in 1991 and in his 8 years at the club he proved he was worth 10 times that, pulling off numerous saves and match winning performances. He capped off his time at Old Trafford by lifting the Champions League trophy as captain in 1999.

Eric Cantona

Fergie took a gamble on the mercurial French man in 1992 who had a much documented troubled past but it paid off spectacularly as ‘King Eric’ proved to be United’s talisman winning 4 Premier League titles in his 5 years at the club.

The fact that Ferguson only mentioned Cantona in passing during a conversation with Leeds boss Harold Wilkinson, who had called to enquire about the availability of Denis Irwin, makes his signing that bit sweeter!

Edwin Van der Sar

The giant Dutch keeper signed in 2006 and finally filled the gap between the sticks that Peter Schmeichel left in 1999. In his time at the club he has provided the kind of solidarity that keepers like Massimo Taibi had failed to.

Helping United to the Premier League 3 times as well as the Champions League the £2m Fergie paid Fulham to bring him to Old Trafford seems like a pittance.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy

United have always had great goal scorers, from Jack Rowley and Denis Law to Mark Hughes and Andy Cole but Ruud Van Nistelrooy was a different animal.

Possibly the club’s greatest striker since the ‘Lawman’, Van Nistelrooy grabbed 36 goals in his first season at United repaying Fergie’s faith for waiting a year to sign him after he initially failed a medical and then rupturing cruciate ligaments in his knee.

At the end of his 5 year tenure at United, Van Nistelrooy would have 150 goals in his 219 games.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

2OLEgend was loved by staff and fans alike. His contribution to Manchester United history will be much chronicled from coming off the bench to score 4 goals in 12 minutes against Nottingham Forest to scoring the winner against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final. The term ‘Super Sub’ was made for him.

Having a torrid time with injuries he retired in 2007 but was quickly made a club ambassador and now coaches the reserves.

Rio Ferdinand

Paying Leeds £30m to acquire Ferdinand services in 2003, Fergie was instantly on to a winner with the classy centre back. Although having his fair share of problem (Ferdinand was banned for 8 months for missing a drug test) his on field performances have propelled him to the position of one of the world’s best centre backs, striking up a particularly effective partnership with Nemanja Vidic.

Nemanja Vidic

In a period of inflated transfer fee, the £7m Fergie paid for the tough Serbian in January 2006 seems like a steal. Imperious in the air and always willing to put his body on the line to stop an opponent, Vidic has established himself as a fan favourite with a host of all action displays. Man Utd’s and Barclay’s player of the season last year, Vidic,28, will hope to carry on this his fine form from the past 3 seasons.

Cristiano Ronaldo

When Ferguson signed the spotty teenager from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, I’m sure not even he could imagine how good he would become. 6 years later Ronaldo has cemented his place as a legend at Old Trafford, breaking George Best’s record for number of goals scored by a midfielder in a season (41), winning the Ballon d’Or (the first United player since George Best in 1968) as well as a host of other things. Ronaldo was a deadly force for United and the fans loved him singing ‘Viva Ronaldo’ as he danced around the field with the ball.