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Manchester United has been home to some fabulous footballers in their history, who have helped the club reach the pinnacle of success in club football over the years. United have always relied on a healthy mix of homegrown and foreign player, both youngsters and experienced campaigners, who lit up Old Trafford and never let the Trophy cabinet dry up.
However, football entitles change and the influx and departure of players in a club is a natural process. Over time, United has seen many of their stars adapt to their game and finally retire at the club. Others have chosen to ply their trade elsewhere when chances became harder to come by at Old Trafford. Some have gone on to lesser leagues, while some have shifted to various countries, all in search of regular football.
Since Sir Alex’s retirement and even during the reign of the legendary Scottish manager, United has seen stars leave and settle elsewhere. However, it is quite interesting to note that a few of those players, who were once stars at Old Trafford and have all won trophies under Sir Alex, have not hung up their boots yet. Today, we look at 7 former Manchester United stars, who, you will not believe, are still playing!
#7 Carlos Tevez
Tevez joined Manchester United from West Ham United in August 2007 and spent two seasons at Old Trafford, playing 99 games and scoring 34 goals. He won two Premier Leagues, one League Cup, one Champions League, one FA Community Shield and one FIFA Club World Cup during his time.
He was a part of a menacing attacking quartet of United, along with Ronaldo, Rooney and Berbatov that strangled opposition defenses and scored goals galore. Unfortunately, he shifted base to local rivals Manchester City in July 2009 and was branded a traitor in the eyes of the Old Trafford faithful.
Tevez played for 4 seasons for Manchester City, but his time at the club was marred by disciplinary disputes, especially during the end. He then moved to Juventus at the start of the 2013/14 season and was involved in the Serie A for 2 seasons.
In June 2015, Tevez returned to his first club Boca Juniors. He then moved to Shanghai Shenhua in December 2016, to play in the Chinese Super League, becoming the highest paid footballer in the world.
In January 2018, Tevez returned to Argentina for his third spell at Boca Juniors is currently plays his football at Buenos Aires.
#6 Anderson
Anderson joined Manchester United from Porto on May 2007, however, he could never live up to the expectations surrounding his transfer. He spent seven and a half years at Old Trafford, which included a loan spell at Florentina in the 2013/14 season, before he joined Internacional on a free transfer in January 2015.
Anderson played 181 games for United, scoring just 9 goals. He did, however, win four Premier Leagues, two FA Community Shields, one League Cup, one Champions League and one FIFA Club World Cup during his time at Old Trafford.
At Internacional, Anderson won the Campeonato Gaucho in 2015. He went on to play 88 games and scored 6 goals in total for the Serie A side. However, he could not shine for the club either. In July 2018, Anderson joined the Turkish side Adana Demirspor and that is where he currently plays his football.
For the boy who won the FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball in 2005 and the Golden Boy in 2008, life seems to have caught up fast. Once, one of the most promising youngsters in the world, Anderson’s career has seen a downward slide that is outrightly sad, because he is still just 30 years old.
#5 Rafael da Silva
The promising Brazilian joined Manchester United before the start of the 2008/09 season, along with his twin brother Fabio and immediately became a darling of Old Trafford due to his playing style and his display of passion on the field. Rafael played for seven seasons at United, appearing in 169 games and also scoring 5 goals, playing at right back.
He was quite successful at Manchester United and his ability to play as both right-back and left-back made him quite valuable to the club under Sir Alex, who even used him as a winger on a couple of occasions.
Rafael won three Premier Leagues, three Community Shields, one League Cup, and one FIFA World Cup with Manchester United, but saw his play chances diminish during his last season at Old Trafford. In August 2015, Rafael finally left United and joined Lyon.
He has since played 94 games for the Ligue 1 side in total, scoring 2 goals, but has not won any silverware with the club. Still only 28 years old, Rafael currently is still with Lyon.
#4 Nani
When he joined Manchester United from Sporting CP in the summer of 2007, Nani was touted as the next Cristiano Ronaldo and there were many reasons why. The Portuguese was blessed with the same set of skills and speed and had a venomous shot in him. Yet lack of consistency meant that he never fulfilled his potential.
Nani went on to spend eight seasons at United, one of which was spent in loan, back at Sporting CP. He played 230 games and scored 40 goals during his time, winning four Premier Leagues, two League Cups, four Community Shields, one Champions League and one FIFA Club World Cup.
In July 2015, Nani joined Turkish side Fenerbahce and played 47 games, scoring 12 times. In July 2016, he joined Valencia where he scored five goals in 26 games. Next was a season-long loan at Lazio, where he hit the net three times in 25 games.
This season, he returned to where it all started for him, in a bid to revive his career – he is, after all, still 31 years old. Nani rejoined Sporting CP in July 2018 and has since scored two times in two games already.
#3 Robin Van Persie
Robin van Persie joined Manchester United from Arsenal in the summer of 2012 and was instrumental in winning the record 20th title for the Red Devils. In what is widely described as a coup by Sir Alex, the legendary manager managed to convince Arsenal to sell him their most potent weapon and van Persie fired United to the league title, scoring some stunning goals in the process.
He also won the Community Shield in 2013, however, even though he was a goal machine for United in his first season, scoring 30 goals in 48 games, the goals and his performances waned with time and after three years at Old Trafford, van Persie finally moved on. He had scored 58 goals in 105 games.
van Persie joined Turkish side Fenerbahce in July 2015 and spent two and a half seasons there, playing 87 games and scoring 36 goals. In January 2018, he canceled his contract with Fenerbahce and returned to his boyhood club Feyenoord. He has since scored 11 goals in 20 games. He recently turned 35 and has started this season brightly, scoring four times in six games.
#2 John O’Shea
The Republic of Ireland footballer started his professional football career at United, when he joined the Red Devils in 1999. He spent two seasons on loan at Bournemouth and Royal Antwerp, before beginning to establish himself as a Manchester United player.
During his time at Manchester United, O’Shea showed tremendous versatility, playing at right-back, center-back, left-back and even in the midfield with ease. He even ended a game against Spurs as a goalkeeper in the 2007/08 season, after van der Sar was injured and United has used up all their substitutes.
One of the most successful Irish footballers of all times, O’Shea spent 13 years with Manchester United, playing 393 games and even scoring 15 goals. He won five Premier Leagues, two League Cups, four Community Shields, one Champions League, one FIFA Club World Club and an FA Cup during his time with the Red Devils.
In July 2011, O'Shea joined Sunderland, where he played for seven seasons, appearing in 256 games and scoring four goals. He endured two back to back relegations with the club – first at the end of the 2016/17 season, when they were relegated from the Premier League and then, in the very next season, when Sunderland were relegated from the Championship.
In June 2018, John O’Shea agreed to a one year deal with Reading and currently plays in the Championship.
#1 Darren Fletcher
Darren Fletcher rose through the youth ranks at Manchester United and spent almost 13 seasons at Manchester Untied. He played 340 games and scored 23 goals for the club and established himself as a pivotal character in the United midfield during the peak of his career.
His work ethics and passing abilities established him among the many great midfielders produced by Manchester United over the years and he was a crucial part of many title winning teams.
With Manchester United, Fletcher won five Premier Leagues, three Community Shields, one FA Cup, one Champions League, one League Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup. Unfortunately, his career was hit hard with ulcerative colitis from the end of the 2010-11 season and during his time at United, he never quite recovered from the illness properly.
In February 2015, Fletcher joined West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer. He played there for two and a half season, appearing in 97 games and scoring six goals.
In June 2017, he signed with Stoke City and was a part of the team that was ultimately relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2017/18 season.
Fletcher is 34 years old now and is currently playing with Stoke in the Championship.
