Man Utd’s top scorers from the past five seasons

Manchester United have not had a single player reach 20 Premier League goals in any of their last five seasons, a statistic that tells its own story about why the club has drifted away from genuine title contention.

It stands in sharp contrast to the club’s history, when a prolific striker was almost taken for granted at Old Trafford.

Anyone checking Hull vs Man United betting for this weekend’s fixture will find a squad still searching for the kind of reliable, high-volume goalscorer that used to be a given at Old Trafford.

Looking back at who topped United’s scoring charts each season shows just how far the bar has slipped, and why finding a genuine 20-goal striker matters so much for any title challenge going forward.

2021-22: Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo top scored with 18 Premier League goals in his return season at Old Trafford, including two hat-tricks during the campaign against Tottenham and Norwich.

It remains the highest total any United player has managed in a single Premier League season over this five-year stretch, despite the team finishing a distant sixth that year.

2022-23: Marcus Rashford

Rashford enjoyed the best individual season of his career, scoring 17 Premier League goals and 30 across all competitions as United finished third and won the Carabao Cup under Erik ten Hag.

His run of scoring in five consecutive appearances either side of the World Cup break was a highlight of a campaign that suggested United’s finishing problems might be behind them.

2023-24: Rasmus Hojlund and Bruno Fernandes

Hojlund and Fernandes finished level on 10 Premier League goals apiece, with Hojlund’s 16 goals across all competitions making him the club’s outright top scorer in his first season in English football.

For those tracking relegation odds Premier League each year, a season with no player reaching even 15 league goals was an early warning sign of the trouble that followed, even though United did win the FA Cup that year.

2024-25: Amad Diallo and Bruno Fernandes

United’s worst Premier League finish on record was reflected in their worst scoring return too, with Amad Diallo and Bruno Fernandes sharing top spot on just eight Premier League goals each.

Amad’s tally included the club’s only hat-trick of the season, achieving the feat against Southempton, but the lack of a reliable double-figure scorer summed up a campaign that ended in 15th place.

2025-26: Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko

Summer signings Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko finished level on 11 Premier League goals each, an improvement on the previous season but still well short of the numbers a genuine title challenger needs from its attacking options.

United finished third, returning to the Champions League under Michael Carrick, but the goals remained spread across the squad rather than concentrated in one prolific source.

Why a 20-goal striker still matters

Every Premier League title winning squad over the past decade has featured at least one player capable of reaching 20 league goals in a season, whether that’s been Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah or, in United’s own history, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney at their peaks.

Until United find that level of consistent output again, closing the gap on the division’s genuine contenders is likely to remain difficult, however well the rest of the squad performs across the other positions on the pitch.