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As many Manchester United fans would tell you, things at Old Trafford have largely been disastrous ever since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2013. Since then, David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all managed the Red Devils – but none have come close to replicating the success of ‘Fergie’.
One of the reasons that the Red Devils have found things so difficult since Ferguson’s departure is their spotty record in the transfer market. United have spent a fortune on new players since 2013, but the number of those stars who have succeeded at Old Trafford remains worryingly short.
Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes is now the latest United acquisition, but whether he will succeed or fail remains to be seen. If he does fail to make an impact, though, he could join this list – the worst 5 signings that the Red Devils have made since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.
#5 Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Armenia’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan came to Manchester United with a huge reputation from his time at Borussia Dortmund. The creative midfielder had been voted the Bundesliga’s Players’ Player of the Season in 2015-16, and ended the campaign with a tremendous 11 goals and 15 assists to his name. The reported £27m that the Red Devils paid to bring him to Old Trafford in the summer of 2016 sounded like an absolute steal.
Unfortunately, Mkhitaryan just couldn’t transfer his Bundesliga form to the Premier League. While the Armenian did have a handful of high points during his time with United – most notably his famous scorpion kick goal in a win over Sunderland and a goal in the 2017 Europa League final – he largely flattered to deceive in his first season at the club, appearing in 24 games but delivering just 4 goals and 1 assist.
2017-18 was even worse for him; he started on fire by registering 5 assists in just his first 3 games, but after this his form plummeted and he was frozen out by boss Jose Mourinho. When United were offered a rare swap deal by Arsenal – sending Mkhitaryan to the Emirates with Alexis Sanchez coming the other way – the Red Devils were more than happy to oblige, ending an unhappy run for all parties.
#4 Marcos Rojo
One of Louis Van Gaal’s first signings during his period as United boss, Argentina’s Marcos Rojo was brought to Old Trafford in the summer of 2014 for a fee of £16m from Sporting Lisbon. The idea was that the central defender could shore up United’s backline, but unfortunately for him and for the club, the move just hasn’t worked out and he looks set to depart this week.
Rojo made a total of 22 appearances during his first season at Old Trafford and looked solid at times, but after that debut campaign, things haven’t gone his way at all. His United career has largely been wrecked by injuries; at times it’s felt like the Argentine simply can’t put a run of games together without ending up on the treatment table, and since 2016-17 he’s made just a handful of appearances.
What's more baffling is the fact that despite only playing a total of 9 Premier League matches in 2017-18, Rojo was handed a new contract by the club during that season, and since then he’s appeared in league games on just 8 occasions. Largely a forgotten man under current boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Argentine’s United career must largely go down as a waste of time.
#3 Memphis Depay
Few Manchester United signings during the post-Ferguson era received quite as much hype upon arrival as Memphis Depay. The Dutch winger was signed from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2015 for a fee of around £25m after scoring 22 goals in 30 Eredivisie games in the previous season, and after he was handed the #7 jersey, many Red Devils fans had hope that he’d become the next Cristiano Ronaldo.
To say that the Dutchman never came close would be an understatement. Depay struggled to make an impact from the off, and after admitting so to the Dutch press, he was criticised by United’s assistant manager Ryan Giggs for his perceived “flashy lifestyle” impacting his form on the pitch. His opening season saw him dropped on numerous occasion, and his return of just 5 goals and 0 assists in all competitions was massively disappointing.
By the start of 2016-17, Depay had already garnered the reputation of being a big-money flop, and he was largely cut out of the first team by new manager Jose Mourinho. The Dutchman made just 4 appearances as a substitute before being sold to Lyon in January 2017, with United losing money in the process.
Since leaving, however, Depay has regained his form and was looking like one of Europe’s brightest talents once again until a recent ACL injury – suggesting that his move to United simply came too soon in his career.
#2 Angel Di Maria
After 4 successful seasons at Real Madrid – including a Man of the Match-level performance in the 2013-14 Champions League final – it felt like a huge transfer coup when Manchester United signed winger Angel Di Maria from the Spanish giants, even if they had to pay a monstrous £60m for him, breaking the British transfer fee record in the process.
Di Maria started his tenure at Old Trafford well enough, being named their Player of the Month for September 2014 after recording 2 goals and 2 assists in his first 4 matches with the Red Devils, but a hamstring injury suffered a few weeks later laid him up for a substantial period, and when he returned he simply couldn’t regain anything like his best form.
The Argentine suffered his nadir when he was red carded for a dive and for grabbing the referee during an FA Cup defeat at the hands of Arsenal, and at that point it felt only like a matter of time before his United career was ended. The summer of 2015 saw him sold onto Paris St-Germain for around £44m, and with just 27 Premier League games to his name he is still considered one of the Red Devils’ worst ever signings.
#1 Alexis Sanchez
Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez – who’d made a name for himself with Arsenal as one of the Premier League’s most exciting players – might not have cost United an official transfer fee, as he arrived in a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan heading in the opposite direction, but he still goes down as their worst post-Ferguson signing. Put simply, no other signing offered so much and then actually gave so little to the Red Devils’ cause.
Sanchez arrived at Old Trafford in January 2018 and although there were question marks over his huge wage packet – reportedly a ludicrous £500k per week – he was still expected to help to bolster Jose Mourinho’s attack. Unfortunately, 2 goals in 12 league appearances – compared to 24 in 38 for Arsenal in the previous season – meant that right away, he was a disappointment.
Most United fans seemed willing to give their new signing another season to prove himself, but Sanchez’s form just got worse, and after continually struggling he was eventually dropped by new boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and ended the season with just 9 starts to his name, scoring a single goal.
The Chilean was loaned to Inter Milan in the summer of 2019 and since his move to Italy, he’s struggled with injuries. Solskjaer has suggested that Sanchez may still return to Old Trafford, but the reason for that likely has more to do with a lack of willing suitors for him. Few players have fallen from grace so quickly after a big move in Premier League history.
