Top 7 worst Manchester United signings in recent years
Like all big clubs, great successes also come with great failures, which is somewhat normal given how football works today. In Manchester United's case, the post-Ferguson era has yielded several signings that, in theory, were supposed to help revive the team but ultimately ended up on this list. In addition to performance, we also consider the player's cost as an important factor for inclusion. Paul Pogba was a controversial signing, but his time at the club was not entirely poor. We chose to include players who are clearly regarded as failed signings for the Red Devils, and therefore we decided to exclude Pogba here.
Antony from Ajax
We're starting the list strong. The Brazilian winger Antony arrived in England for a whopping 95 million euro in 2022 and never established himself at the Red Devils. From his arrival, it was clear that Antony wasn't worth the price he was paid, and that price, in turn, seemed to weigh heavily on the player, who felt physically and even mentally overwhelmed by the situation. His best form has always been seen away from Old Trafford, and it is clear that he is a player that was not a good fit for United.Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund
Unlike Antony, who was a surprising, expensive signing for many, Jadon Sancho, who cost 85 million euro, was expected to be expensive because at the time (2021) he was one of the best players in the Bundesliga and one of the best young players in all of Europe. His first two seasons, while not notoriously bad, didn't live up to expectations by any stretch, but after his conflict with Erik Ten Haag, his situation at the club worsened considerably and he never truly recovered, just as the club never recouped the enormous investment it made, either on the pitch or off.Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich
Back in 2007, Manchester United's situation was very different from that of the previous decade, as it was one of the main contenders to win both the Premier League and Champions League titles. A squad that already included Cristiano Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney, Scholes, and Rio Ferdinand was joined by youngsters like Nani and Anderson, and a more established player like Owen Hargreaves. The Canadian was an important player for Bayern, although he was not always available due to injuries. Sir Alex Ferguson took a chance on him, paying around 23 million euro and a salary of £1 million per year. That first season, he enjoyed continuity and made an important contribution to the team's success in winning both the Premier League and Champions League titles. In the following three years of his contract, Hargreaves only played five games for the first team. Considering transfer fees and salary, the Canadian cost United 700,000 euro per game at the end of the first decade of the new millennium.
Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal
In the 2018 winter transfer window, Manchester United and Arsenal exchanged two of their key players. The Chilean was truly the Gunners' best player during those challenging years for the London club. At first glance, it seemed like a good deal for United, but this didn't turn out to be the case, as Alexis Sanchez only managed to score five goals in a year and a half, after averaging almost a goal every two games for Arsenal. It seems that something didn't work out from the start between Alexis and Manchester United, as the Chilean later declared: "After my first training session, I got home and told my family and my agent: can't I rip up my contract and go back to Arsenal?"Massimo Taibi from Venezia
In 1999, the Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel left Manchester United, and he was not only one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the time but also one of the team's leaders. Ferguson chose Mark Bosnich as his replacement, taking advantage of the Australian's expiring contract with Aston Villa and already familiar with the goalkeeper from a previous spell at the club. An injury to Bosnich before the transfer window closed prompted United to seek an emergency replacement, paying 5 million euro to Venezia for Taibi. The Italian would only play four games that season, racking up serious errors that ended in a goal against Liverpool on his debut (although his performance improved throughout the match) and then against Southampton, in addition to being involved in Chelsea's 5-0 thrashing of United. In January 2000, just six months after his arrival, he would return to Italy.Juan Sebastian Veron from Lazio
In 2001, Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to repeat the 1999 treble and believed that to achieve this, he needed to use a different tactic in Europe than the one he used in the Premier League. The Scot saw that the 4-4-2 formation used in the league wasn't the most appropriate tactic for playing against European powerhouses and believed that removing a striker to bring in a midfielder was the best solution. With that in mind, he signed the Argentine Juan Sebastián Verón for 32 million euros (the most expensive transfer in England at the time) to complement Roy Keane and Paul Scholes in midfield, primarily in the Champions League. Although he had an exciting start to the season, as the matches went by, it became clear that the pace of English football was higher than what Veron was used to, and his performances were increasingly declining. After just two seasons, Ferguson decided that a move was best and accepted Chelsea's offer.
Ángel Di Maria - here in while playing for Paris Saint-Germain