Manchester United have arguably been the biggest English club of the Premier League era and during this period, football has been treated to the skills of some of the world’s best players. One of the hallmarks of that era had been Sir Alex Fergusson’s willingness to part with the old and underperforming players and bring in new ones.
Plenty of good players have left Old Trafford over the years, in search of greener pastures and some have returned to the Premier League to enhance their reputations at their new clubs.
Here is a team made of 11 players who once were part of Manchester United, but are currently playing elsewhere in the Premier League:
Goalkeeper
Tom Heaton
Tom Heaton was one of the 24 players that Sir Alex Ferguson took to Russia for the 2008 Champions League final against Chelsea and as the No. 3 keeper behind Edwin Van der Sar and Tomasz Kuszczak, he sat in the stands and watched as his mentor took centre stage in the defining shootout. However, that was as far as it got for the 30-year-old goalkeeper at Manchester United, as he never walked on the pitch as a first team player.
Instead, Heaton was sent on multiple loans spells all over England, which included spells at Swindon Town and Queens Park Rangers, before finally moving on to Cardiff City permanently. However, three seasons later – including a year at Bristol City – he moved to Burnley where he soon established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper.
It was at Turf Moor that the English international finally managed to establish himself and he has been instrumental for Burnley.
Defenders
Right Back: Phil Bardsley
Bardsley came up through Manchester United’s youth system having joined them in 1993 and soon became a regular in the under-17 and the under-19 teams. The 31-year-old finally made his first team debut against West Bromwich Albion in a League Cup fixture.
However, his career had come to stand still at United after having made less than 17 appearances over the course of five years for the club. The right-back had fallen out of favour at the club and was sent out on loan, with spells at Burnley and Rangers, where he was sent back to Manchester United after a training ground scuffle with the manager.
Sunderland paid just over £2 million for the defender, and he spent nearly six years with the club making over 200 appearances, even winning the Sunderland A.F.C. Player of the Year award for the 2010-11 season. However, a falling out between him and manager Paolo Di Canio lead to him leaving for Stoke City in 2014.
Centre Back: Ryan Shawcross
Ryan Shawcross made only two senior appearances for Manchester United, despite spending nearly four years at the Manchester United academy which was followed by a two-year stint in the reserves squad. He made 10 appearances for Manchester United’s reserve side, during the treble winning season where the side won the Manchester Senior Cup, FA Premier Reserve League North and FA Premier Reserve Playoff in the 2005-06 season.
He had loan spells with Royal Antwerp and Stoke City, before moving permanently to the Premier League club. It’s here that his career really took off and he became a big part of Stoke’s promotion to the Premier League in 2008 and their mid-table finishes since then. The 29-year-old has made 373 appearances for the Potters since his move, scoring 23 goals in the process.
A powerful defender, the Stoke City captain has been prone to a crunching tackle or two and can dominate the opposition team in the air, which allowed him to fit in perfectly with the rest of the Potters’ back four.
Centre Back: Michael Keane
The 23-year-old centre-back made just four senior appearances at Old Trafford and given that Manchester United haven’t exactly been flush with centre-halves in the past three years, it’s a wonder why they sold Keane who’s now been valued at somewhere around £25 million. Keane debuted as a 17-year-old under Sir Alex Ferguson, in a League Cup tie against Aldershot in 2011, but his sole Premier League appearance came only in 2014.
When Keane was trying to break through into the Manchester United team, the Red Devils still had Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand at the heart of their back four, which made it difficult for the youngster. Although he won Manchester United’s Reserve Team Player of the Year award in 2012, Keane was sent on loan to several Championship clubs, in Leicester City and Derby County's promotion efforts.
Now at Burnley, the English international has earned his first call-up and has flourished under manager Sean Dyche.
Left Back: Robbie Brady
The Dubliner arrived at Old Trafford as an awestruck teenager from St Kevin’s Boys in 2008. A product of the United youth system, Brady made just one first team appearance, as a substitute in the League Cup before he was sent out on loan to Hull City. It was initially supposed to be a six-month loan spell with the left-sided player returning in January but it was extended until the end of the season before he left again to Hull City on loan.
Eventually, Brady was given the go-ahead by Alex Ferguson to leave Manchester United, with the left-sided player unable to add to his solitary League Cup appearance. The Tigers made the deal permanent and the Irish international went on to make 123 appearances for the club, and had a part in 35 goals, scoring 14 of them, before moving to Norwich City.
Although he performed well with the Canaries, he experienced back-to-back relegations after the team finished 19th. It was then, Burnley broke their transfer record to sign the 25-year-old during this season’s January transfer window, and Brady marked his first goal for the side with a brilliantly taken free-kick against Chelsea.
Midfielders
Left Wing: Mame Diouf
Diouf was the top scorer in the Tippeligaen, Norway's football league, with 12 goals in 17 games before his move to Manchester United as a 21-year-old. However, he only made nine appearances as a Manchester United player scoring just one goal in the process, before he was sent out on loan to Blackburn Rovers. He made an instant impact for the team, scoring 15 minutes after coming on for his debut, before netting a hat-trick on his first full debut for the club.
The Senegalese returned to Old Trafford with 30 first team games under his belt, hoping to get recognised at the club and then Reserves manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was full of praise for the young player. However, as luck would have it, Diouf would only make a handful of appearances for the club, most of them in the League Cup before his move to Hannover 96.
The 29-year-old made over 70 appearances for the German side, scoring 35 goals in the process, with 25 goals in 57 league appearances. But his return to the Premier League was inevitable and Mark Hughes had always been a huge fan of the winger, the Stoke City manager finally signed him and brought him to the Bet365 stadium.
Central midfielder: Danny Drinkwater
Manchester-born Danny Drinkwater was at Manchester United for nearly 13 years before he was sold in 2012, having spent spells on loan at Huddersfield, Cardiff, Watford and Barnsley. The Old Trafford club had not signed a central midfielder in five years when Drinkwater left the club, despite Paul Scholes coming out of retirement in 2012.
However, Drinkwater joined Leicester City, where under both Nigel Pearson and Claudio Ranieri, he became an essential cog in the Leicester City midfield. The English international was among the best of Claudio Ranieri’s players, with the midfielder playing a key role in the club’s fairytale title win.
Alongside Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy, and N’Golo Kante, Drinkwater earned widespread plaudits for his performances from midfield.
The 27-year-old was tipped for an England spot in their doomed Euros campaign, only to miss out in Roy Hodgson's final cut.
Central Midfielder: Darron Gibson
Darron Gibson was certainly a unique figure during Sir Alex Ferguson's reign at Manchester United. On the one hand, he was an academy product and fans wanted to see one of the kids succeed on the big stage. But on the other hand, his tendency to score screamers was often dissipated by his poor movement and passing.
The 29-year-old made just over 60 odd appearances for the club scoring ten goals and left for Everton in January 2012. The Irish midfielder is smart on the ball, determined to win possession and has the ability to score piledriver goals, traits that Manchester United desperately needed but never managed to get the Irishman to produce. He, however, excelled under former Everton boss David Moyes.
However, after Moyes left, the midfielder struggled and was eventually sold by new manager Ronald Koeman to Sunderland, where he teamed up with Moyes again.
Right Wing: Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha was Sir Alex Ferguson's last signing, bought from Palace for £15 million in 2013 as a 20-year-old with extraordinary potential. But unfortunately for both the club and player, the move didn’t work out, and Zaha returned to the Eagles in 2015.
He returned to Palace on loan and then made the deal a permanent one, after managing to make four appearances for Manchester United.
When Louis Van Gaal arrived, he ended the winger’s stay at Old Trafford and sent him back to Selhurst Park, where he has managed to spark a comeback of sorts. The English international failed to impress in his first season back at Palace, scoring just two Premier League goals against relegated teams. This season, however, has seen the 24-year-old progress and impress fans once again with his flair and ingenuity.
Zaha is finally threatening to become the player Ferguson believed he could be some four years ago and has turned into a player that Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce can now count on.
Forwards
Striker: Danny Welbeck
Danny Welbeck was allowed to leave Old Trafford by Louis van Gaal simply because, at 23, he had failed to show sufficient promise to suggest he could become a 20-goal a season forward, who could eventually oust Robin van Persie in the centre-forward role. The Manchester-born striker had come up through the United academy after joining them as an 8-year-old boy.
He was sent on loan twice, once to Preston North End and the second time to Sunderland before he could finally make his mark at Old Trafford. The English international made over 140 appearances for the club, scoring just under 30 goals. Injuries and being played as a winger had a major effect on his overall goal tally.
The 26-year-old was displeased at his lack of chances in a more central role and thus eventually left the club, joining Arsenal.
At Arsenal, things haven’t changed much for the striker as injury has curtailed his game-time over the last three years or so, keeping him out of nearly 80 matches since he joined the North London club. However, when fit, Welbeck has been played in his preferred position and has managed to net 16 goals in 57 appearances for the Gunners.
Striker: Joshua King
Josh King was signed by the Red Devils as a 16-year-old striker, having been spotted in a youth tournament in Norway, and spent over five years with the youth academy honing his skills. King was sent on a series of loan spells to Preston North End, Borussia Monchengladbach, and Hull City after failing to make it to the first-team squad at Old Trafford.
Despite all his loan spells, King still managed to regular appearances for the reserves squad and even came on as a substitute for Danny Welbeck in both the League Cup and a Champions League fixture. He was eventually sold to Blackburn Rovers, where he went on to make just over 70 appearances scoring 8 goals for the Championship Club, before moving to Bournemouth following their promotion to the Premier League.
Since his move to the Cherries, the 25-year-old striker has flourished under Eddie Howe and managed to score eight goals in his last seven Premier League matches this season.
