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A spell at Manchester United, one of the biggest football clubs in the world, can make or break your career. Look at Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo as examples of the former. While Cantona became one of the all-time Premier League greats in the few seasons he spent at Manchester United, Ronaldo began his journey of becoming possibly the greatest footballer ever at Old Trafford.
Sadly, there are enough examples of the latter aspect too. With Manchester United hitting the doldrums in recent times after occupying the zenith of the English game, many big-time recent signings such as Alexis Sanchez have seen their games hugely dip after joining the club.
Seven players whose careers dipped after joining Manchester United
Even during the glorious reign of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, several footballers who arrived at Manchester United were expected to add to the club's legacy but never got going before seeing their promising careers fizzle away. In this article, we will take a look at seven such footballers.
#7 Eric Djemba-Djemba
Not many had heard of the Cameroonian when Sir Alex Ferguson bought him from Nantes. The Manchester United gaffer expected Eric Djemba-Djemba to eventually fill the giant boots of Roy Keane. It is safe to say now that that didn't exactly happen during Djemba-Djemba's 18-month stay at Manchester United.
He scored only twice for the club and often got stick for his overly physical approach. He played 39 times for Manchester United before being shipped off to Aston Villa where he only played 11 games. Djemba-Djemba then became the proverbial football journeyman, and in 2016, he was signed by a Swiss fifth-tier club.
#6 Mark Bosnich
Unlike Djemba-Djemba, Mark Bosnich had a proven Premier League track record when he arrived at Old Trafford as a replacement for the great Peter Schemeichel.
Bosnich had spent a steady seven years at Aston Villa and had already spent a short spell at Manchester United early in his career. However, he proved to be a failure at United and soon fell down the pecking order at the club, making only 35 appearances. Sir Alex Ferguson later castigated the player in the former's autobiography.
Bosnich's career went horribly downhill post Manchester United. He failed a drugs test at Chelsea and got banned from the game. Later Bosnich developed a drug addiction. He did make a comeback, but he was never the same footballer after Manchester United again.
#5 Alan Smith
Alan Smith was one of the leading lights of the great Leeds team that set pulses racing in England and across Europe before they dramatically collapsed. In a contentious transfer, he moved to great rivals Manchester United after Leeds were relegated.
Though Smith played 93 times for the club, he never really regained the form he displayed at Elland Road. Made into a midfielder by Sir Alex Ferguson from a striker, Smith was then moved on to Newcastle United where he had another disappointing spell. The player finally ended his career at Notts County.
#4 Kelberson
Kleberson was touted as one of the main reasons why Brazil won the 2002 FIFA World Cup by the team's coach himself, Luiz Felipe Scolari. Thus, Manchester United immediately jumped in to get his signature. But the midfielder was bogged down by injuries and in the end played only 20 times for the club, never ever managing to settle down in his new environment.
Eventually, Kleberson was sold at a loss to Besiktas where he had another horror spell. He went back to Brazil before ending his career with the now defunct Fort Lauderdale Strikers who played in the North American Soccer league. He had had a spell in the MLS before that too.
#3 Paul Pogba
One might feel that Paul Pogba, a World Cup winner and still only 27, has time on his side to fulfill his potential and become one of the best-ever midfielders to have graced the game. His vision, passing and shooting ability put him up with the best, but his second spell at Manchester United has seen more lows than highs.
In 109 games, Pogba has netted only 25 times for Manchester United and has shown flashes of his brilliance but has often seemed alienated and uninterested in the club besides picking up injuries. Gone are the days when Pogba played with brilliant abandon at Juventus. The embattled Frenchman is now at a mediocre Manchester United trying to turn around the the fortunes of his club and his own.
#2 Juan Sebastian Veron
Juan Sebastian Veron arrived at Old Trafford with the reputation of being one of the best midfielders in the world. Sir Alex Ferguson wanted top-class quality and creativity in the midfield to make Manchester United a force to reckon with once again at the European level.
Veron was the most expensive English transfer of the period. He turned out 82 times for the club and did show glimpses of why he was rated so highly by Sir Alex Ferguson, but he never got used to the pace of the Premier League.
It quickly became clear that his silken touch needed him to have more time on the ball to make the desired impact.
Though he got some silverware on his return to Italy after failing at Chelsea, Veron was never the same world beater again and finally packed his bags to go home to Argentina where it all began.
#1 Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez on a swap deal! Manchester United must have thought that they landed the moon when the Chilean, magnificent at Arsenal, came to Old Trafford. Soon, the moon began seeming like a black hole to the Manchester United fans as the former Barcelona player seemed to hit an endless dark patch.
He might have come on a swap deal, but Manchester United were paying him a humongous salary. They paid £59.3 million in wages to the Chilean, in return for which they got a meagre three Premier League goals. When you do the maths, it stands at a staggering £13.2m per goal and £7.3m per assist!
Sanchez, who has now permanently moved to Inter Milan after a loan spell at the Serie A club, is trying to rediscover his mojo in Italy. But it is amply clear that Sanchez is not the same player anymore.
