Manchester United is widely regarded as one of the best breeding grounds for young talent in the United Kingdom. The club has produced some of the greatest ever players to have graced the Premier League like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and the rest of the Class of 92.
United have also enjoyed unparalleled success over the years thanks to their effective youth system and an eye for young talent around the world. Sir Alex Ferguson pulled off some of the greatest signings in the history of football during his tenure at Old Trafford which included bringing in the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand at a very young age.
Also read: 5 Liverpool rejects who are on fire this season
However, there are also players who were expected to hog the limelight but eventually fell off the radar at the club. In this segment, we take a look at five Manchester United rejects who couldn’t make the cut with the Red Devils but are impressing with their performances at other clubs this season.
#1 Michael Keane
Micheal Keane was an exciting prospect from United’s famous youth system and signed his professional contract with the club back in January 2011 on his 18th birthday. He had a fantastic season in 2011-12 for United’s reserve team during which he made 27 appearances and scored five goals and was a prominent presence at the heart of the side’s defence.
Keane won the award for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year in 2012 for his performances. He was the clear winner with 60% of the votes ahead of Jesse Lingard (24%) and Larnell Cole (16%) and was poised to make the cut to United’s first team in the coming years.
However, his only start for the first team came against Newcastle United in the League Cup in 2012. Keane made just about 5 appearances for United and had loan spells at Leicester City, Derby County, Blackburn Rovers and Burnley.
Keane completed a permanent move to Burnley in 2015 after he signed a three-and-a-half-year-contract and has never looked back. He has become a mainstay for the Clarets this season with his solid displays. He played a huge part in their promotion from the championship at the end of last season as well.
Keane has won 13 tackles this season with a success rate of 92% and has also managed to score a goal to go with his 38 interceptions and 143 clearances.
#2 Wilfried Zaha
Zaha joined United in 2013 for a reported fee of £10m rising to £15m with performance-related add-ons after impressing in his time with Crystal Palace. He was loaned back to Palace for the remainder of the season and officialy joined United the next season.
He made his debut for the club in their Community Shield victory over Wigan Athletic but was loaned out to Cardiff later in the season after falling down the pecking order under the then manager David Moyes.
He made a permanent switch to his boyhood club in 2015 on the winter transfer deadline day for a fee believed to be in the region of £3 million with an added clause that stated United will also receive a percentage of the fee if Palace decided to sell Zaha in the future.
The 24-year-old had a great 2016 where he guided Palace to the FA Cup final by playing in almost every game and scoring 2 goals along the way. Palace lost to his former club United in the final but Zaha played the full 120 minutes of the game and was named as the club’s Player of the Year for his contributions throughout the season.
Zaha has been Palace’s most prolific player this season scoring 3 goals and registering 6 assists in the process. He has created 21 chances so far this season and has completed 345 passes out of which 65% were forward passes. The 24-year-old is currently second in the assist chart behind Kevin De Bruyne.
#3 Tom Heaton
Tom Heaton joined the club as a trainee in 2002 and became the reserve side’s first choice goalkeeper in the 2004-05 season. He had a successful term with the reserve side and guided the team to the Premier Reserve League. Heaton was loaned out to Swindon Town and was not considered to be a part of the first team set-up. However, he returned to United in the 2007-08 season and appeared on the bench when Edwin van der Sar was out due to injury.
Heaton failed to make a single appearance for the Red Devils in his time at the club and secured a move to the Championship in search of better opportunities and played for a number of clubs including Cardiff City and Bristol City before joining current club Burnley.
The 30-year-old joined Burnley in 2013 and was a part of their defence which allowed only 37 goals, fewest in the league, as the Clarets returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2009–10. Heaton also picked up 19 clean sheets, the most by any keeper in the regular season.
The keeper made his Premier League debut in 2014, aged 28, against Chelsea. He played in every minute of Burnley's Premier League campaign, the only goalkeeper to do so but his efforts went in vain as the side were relegated.
However, he was voted as Burnley’s Player of the Season by his teammates. Heaton was named as captain for the 2015–16 season and kept 20 clean sheets as Burnley became champions and earned immediate promotion.
The Englishman has made 77 saves this season and has 3 clean sheets to his name in 15 appearances for the club. His best game of the season was against United where he made numerous saves to help Burnley to a 0–0 draw, earning the Man of the Match award in the process.
#4 Joshua King
Norwegian striker Joshua King joined United back in 2008, aged 16. The striker rejected trial offers from Chelsea and Sunderland before securing a dream move to Old Trafford. He made his first appearance for the senior team in the 2009-10 season when he came on as a substitute for Danny Welbeck in the 81st minute in United’s third round League Cup fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
King was an integral part of the under-18 side for the remainder of the season, and scored six goals in 14 appearances but failed to make a mark in the first team.
King was handed a two-year contract extension in 2013 but never looked like breaking into the first team after loan spells with Borussia Monchengladbach, Hull City and Blackburn Rovers. The striker joined Bournemouth in 2015 ahead of their first ever season in England’s top flight and scored his first goal for the club in a 2-2 draw against Swansea City.
However, he grabbed headlines when he scored the winning goal from a corner kick as Bournemouth beat Manchester United 2–1 at home. King finished the season as Bournemouth's top scorer, scoring seven times in all competitions, with six of those coming in the Premier League.
The 24-year-old has scored 2 goals in his 16 league appearances so far this season and has registered 12 shots on target. He has also completed 325 passes and has registered an assist as well. Bournemouth are currently tenth in the table and King has played a huge part in their success for a second year in the running.
#5 Robbie Brady
Brady joined United’s academy in 2008 and made his first reserve team appearance later that year against Newcastle United. He made his only appearance for the senior team when he came on as an 86th-minute substitute for Alexander Buttner in a 2-1 victory over Newcastle in the third round of the League Cup.
He was loaned out to Hull City in 2011 and spent two years at the club before signing a permanent deal in 2013. However, his spell with the Tigers was not particularly fruitful due to injuries and they were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2014-15 campaign.
Brady joined newly promoted side Norwich City on a three-year deal, for a reported fee of £7 million in the next season but again faced relegation. The player had an impressive outing with the Republic of Ireland in Euro 2016 and has had a solid start in the Championship so far.
He has scored 3 goals and registered 3 assists so far this season also creating 25 chances in the process. Brady has completed 444 passes this season with a pass accuracy of 73%, of which 84% were forward passes. Norwich are just 3 points away from the play-off places and Brady has played a huge part in their run so far.
