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One of the many big transfer news of the summer so far is Anthony Martial’s agent disclosing the player’s wish to leave Manchester United. The news is hardly surprising considering Martial’s limited playing time.
The Frenchman started just 18 league games last season and 26 games in all competitions and this despite the fact that he missed only two games through injuries. He even had a direct contribution in 21 goals last season and it was bettered only by Romelu Lukaku.
If Martial leaves Man Utd, it is almost guaranteed that he will thrive elsewhere. However, the 22-year-old won’t be the first player to leave Manchester United at a young age and find success elsewhere.
Some notable young players left the club at a very young age because of lack of game time or because they were deemed not good enough and have done well for themselves. Take a look at six such prominent names.
#6 Danny Drinkwater
Danny Drinkwater is a graduate of Manchester United’s famous academy but he never had the chance of representing the senior team. He was sent on loan to Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Watford and Barnsley in the lower divisions between 2009 and 2012.
In January 2012, a couple of months before he turned 22, Drinkwater permanently joined Leicester City in the Championship. He was an integral member of the Foxes side right from his arrival and helped them gain promotion to the Premier League in 2013/14, by winning the Championship. Drinkwater was named Leicester's Player of the Season and also included in the Championship Team of the Year.
He was equally important to Leicester City in the Premier League and played 35 games during the 2015/16 season when Leicester famously won the Premier League title. His excellent form also saw him earn his first call-up to the England squad.
In 2017, Drinkwater moved to Chelsea and won the FA Cup at the expense of his former club Manchester United in the final.
#5 Memphis Depay
Memphis Depay arrived at Manchester United in 2015 with a lot of fanfare after he helped PSV to an Eredivisie title by scoring 22 goals in 30 league games. However, he struggled massively to make the step up to the Premier League.
Depay quickly turned into a peripheral figure at the club despite arriving for £25 million and the younger Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford were preferred over him at one point.
After the arrival of Jose Mourinho ahead of the 2016/17 season, Depay only started one game before he was sold to Olympique Lyon midway through the season.
At Lyon, Depay shone immediately and taking the weight of expectations off his shoulder must have helped. He finished the 2016/17 season with 5 goals and 7 assists in 17 games.
In 2017/18, he scored 22 goals and set up a further 22 in 51 games across all competitions for Lyon. Only Neymar, Florian Thauvin and Edinson Cavani were involved directly in more goals than Depay in the Ligue 1 last season. He has also scored 3 and assisted 3 in his last 9 games for a lacklustre Netherlands side.
#4 Joshua King
The Norwegian is another player to have come through the Manchester United academy but unlike Drinkwater, King represented the first team on two occasions.
Between 2010 and 2012, King went on loan to Preston North End, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hull City and Blackburn Rovers before signing permanently for the Rovers in 2013.
At Blackburn, he only scored 8 times in 74 games across all competitions but in 2015, newly promoted Premier League side, Bournemouth, signed him. In his first season with the Cherries, he only scored 7 goals and assisted twice in all competitions.
The following season, he stepped up his game by a notch or two and was crucial to his side as they once again secured their Premier League status. King finished the season with 16 goals and 2 assists in 36 Premier League games. His 16 goals was the 8th highest in the league and the highest for a player outside the Top 7 teams. It was also only one less than the tally of Manchester United's leading Premier League goalscorer for the season.
King carried his form into the 17/18 season and took his overall tally for Bournemouth to 32 goals in 105 games.
The 26-year-old has turned into a key player for his country as well, scoring 8 goals in his last 14 games.
#3 Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha will always be remembered as Sir Alex Ferguson’s last signing for Manchester United although he was immediately loaned back to Crystal Palace.
Zaha only played four games for Manchester United before he was sold back to Crystal Palace on 2 February 2015 while he was already on a season-long loan at Palace.
He has been a key player for Palace since his return and played over 30 league games in his first three seasons with them in the Premier League. However, it was in 2017/18 season when he became truly world class.
The 25-year-old scored 9 and assisted three goals as Palace beat odds to save their Premier League status. What was astonishing was the fact that Palace rarely won a game when Zaha was absent and he missed a few games through injury last season.
The former Manchester United man who has been named Crystal Palace Player of the Year in the last three seasons is now linked with a move away from Palace and that too with a couple of Premier League’s Big 6 teams.
#2 Paul Pogba
The fact that Manchester United spent a then world record fee of £89.3 million to bring Paul Pogba back to the club speaks volumes about how much he improved as a player while he was away from the club.
Pogba showed a lot of promise while he was playing for Man Utd’s youth teams. However, the player believed that he didn’t get the first team opportunities he deserved. Ultimately, he left United to join Juventus on a free transfer after opting not to renew his contract.
It didn’t take long for Pogba to burst on to the scene at Juventus. He played 178 games for the Old Lady in four seasons, scoring 34 goals and assisting 30 more. In his last season in the Serie A, he topped the assists charts.
During his stint with Juventus, Pogba notably won 9 trophies at the club level, won the Golden Boy award in 2013, was named in the Serie A Team of the Year thrice, finished 5th in the Ballon d’Or voting in 2015, was named the best young player at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and included in the FIFPro World XI in 2015.
It is still up for debate if Pogba has hit the heights he hit at Juventus after returning to Man Utd, but he has certainly been one of their best players in the last two seasons. In fact, he was named the Europa League Player of Season in 2016/17 after helping his side win the trophy.
#1 Gerard Piqué
In 2004, a year after Cesc Fabregas left La Masia to come to the Premier League even before making his professional debut, Gerard Pique followed suit by joining Manchester United.
Pique arrived as a promising youngster, but it was nearly impossible for him to break into a side comprising of the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown, Mikaël Silvestre, John O'Shea and Gabriel Heinze. But the fact that he still played 23 games for Man Utd between 2004 and 2008 while spending the 2006/07 season on loan, is a testament to his ability,
At Man Utd, Pique won the league and Champions League without playing a pivotal role but since his move to Barcelona, he has numerous accolades while playing a significant role.
At Barcelona, he has won 26 trophies and with Spain, he won the World Cup and Euro. On an individual level, his most notable achievement is his inclusion in the FIFPro World XI on four occasions.
Leaving Manchester United for Barcelona in 2008 was probably the best decision of Pique’s career.
