Fergie's dream team: Verdict on Sir Alex's greatest ever XI

The incredible Sir Alex Ferguson has won an unprecedented 12th Premier League title - the club's record-breaking 19th championship - and the great man, like fans the world over, can only speculate what his finest Manchester United line-up would be. Today, Sportsmail can tell him.

And there is no room in it for Cristiano Ronaldo, the former World Player of the Year, nor would any of the great strikers - like Mark Hughes, Dwight Yorke or Ruud van Nistelrooy - make the cut.

TOP APPEARANCES BY FERGIE'S TITLE-WINNING PLAYERS

1 Ryan Giggs 373
2 Paul Scholes 273
3 Gary Neville 220
4 Denis Irwin 219
5 Roy Keane 200
6 David Beckham 196
7 Peter Schmeichel 188
8 Nicky Butt 169
9 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 167
10 Phil Neville 153

We have totted up the number of starts each player has made in United's Premier League title-winning seasons - surely the ultimate test - and put together a team even Ferguson could only dream about sending out.

Inevitably, the No 1 shirt would be worn by Peter Schmeichel, who won five championships and was captain that famous night in Barcelona when Ferguson won his first Champions League.

Right-back Gary Neville is a shoo-in with his eight titles while, at left-back, Denis Irwin's seven gives him the edge over Patrice Evra - although the Frenchman, who celebrates his 30th birthday today, has time to add to his haul of four.

The central defensive partnership of Gary Pallister and Rio Ferdinand shows that Ferguson was once happy to spend Manchester City-style transfer fees; both cost United British transfer records in their day.

TOP GOALSCORERS

1 Ryan Giggs 69
2 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 68
3 Cristiano Ronaldo 66
4 Andy Cole 63
5 Paul Scholes 58
6 Eric Cantona 52
7 Wayne Rooney 49
8 Dwight Yorke 47
9 David Beckham 42
10 Dimitar Berbatov 30

Into midfield and, on the right, David Beckham edges out Ronaldo. Why? Simply because the Portuguese did not hang around long enough.

Roy Keane and Paul Scholes were the central midfield fulcrum of the first United team to win three titles in a row, so no surprise there, and on the left the peerless Ryan Giggs, with 12 titles, stands out even among all the other superstars.

Up front saw the stiffest competition but Eric Cantona's influence was even greater than his 52 goals in 121 starts for championship sides.

And Wayne Rooney, having decided to stay at the club earlier in the season then scoring the goal that sealed the title, could end up the greatest of them all.

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