Rooney, Giggs, Scholes and six of the best Man United players to switch positions
Wayne Rooney was a surprise inclusion in Man United's midfield this week for their 2-0 Champions League win over FC Otelul Galati.
The England forward impressed with some eye-catching passes and chipped in with the Red Devil's second goal.
Here are six of the best United players - past and present - who've switched positions at some stage...
DAVID BECKHAM: RIGHT MIDFIELD TO CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Becks shot to fame as a marauding winger capable of planting inch perfect crosses like no else in the game, yet always maintained his preferred role was a central one. Injuries for the 1999 Champions League final provided a perfect platform for Goldenballs to showcase those talents alongside Nicky Butt, with Ryan Giggs and Jesper Blomqvist out wide. He remained in the middle for much of his time at Real Madrid to allow Luis Figo freedom on the right, while Alex Ferguson admitted his surprise when, in February 2010, AC Milan opted to deploy Beckham centrally against United in the Champions League: "I was surprised that they played David in central midfield; I thought that they'd have played him wide right," said Fergie, who later suggested the Milanese club should have made greater use of Beckham's crossing abilities.
ROY KEANE: CENTRAL MIDFIELD TO CENTRAL DEFENCE
Man United's most successful captain bossed games with his tough-tackling box-to-box style throughout the '90s and early noughties. Arguably the best ball-winning midfielder of his generation, Keano started filling in at the back in 2004 when Rio Ferdinand served a nine month ban for missing a drugs test and injuries to Mikael Silvestre and Wes Brown left United short defensively and leaking goals.
RYAN GIGGS: LEFT WING TO CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Giggs terrified full-backs with his pace on the left after bursting into the United first team in 1991. The Welshman is now 38 and remains an important player for the Red Devils, receiving widespread credit for adapting his role as he approaches 40. Fergie started using Giggs in a more central position at the beginning of the 2008/09 season when United won the league, reached the Champions League final and Giggsy won BBC's prestigious Sports Personality of the Year gong. It must be all that (ahem) yoga he's been partaking in, eh?
PAUL SCHOLES: ATTACKING MIDFIELD TO CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Three times World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane paid tribute to Scholes by describing him as his toughest ever opponent and the "complete midfielder". Those type of compliments have since been echoed by Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, Thierry Henry and Xavi Hernandez. Little surprise then, that Scholes sat deeper in his later years at United with relative ease, dictating games and pinging cross field-balls to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. Ironically, it was the form of Ryan Giggs in the middle of the park - one of United's best ever wingers - that often kept Scholes out of the team before his retirement in 2011.
DWIGHT YORKE: STRIKER TO CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Yorke scored 30 goals in United's treble winning season of 1998/99, striking up one of Europe's deadliest ever partnerships with Andy Cole, who bagged 24 himself that year. In 2005, following spells with Blackburn and Birmingham, the veteran moved to Sydney FC in Australia's A League where his manager Pierre Littbarski, a World Cup winning winger with Germany in 1990, switched him to central midfield. An impressive tally of seven goals in 21 games down under attracted the attentions of Sunderland, where Yorkie later occupied a midfield berth under the management of former team-mate Roy Keane.
BRIAN MCCLAIR: STRIKER TO MIDFIELD
An £850,000 signing by Sir Alex in 1987, McClair was United's main striker in his early years when he became the first man to notch 20 league goals for the club in one season since George Best. Although the former Celtic and Motherwell man impressed, he dropped further back to cover various midfield roles after the arrival of Eric Cantona in 1992. First team opportunites became increasingly scarce for Choccy at the tail end of his United spell, but he did manage to score in United's 4-0 FA Cup final win over Chelsea, having replaced right winger Andrei Kanchelskis with five minutes to play.
Which Man United player do you think switched roles with the greatest effect? Let us know by leaving a comment in the space below...