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Manchester United were a dominant force in English football until 2013. Once Sir Alex Ferguson left, the club gradually found itself falling out of the top four. In their pomp, the club would pick some of the best players in the league and bring them to Manchester.
Mentioned below are the last five players the club have signed from their rivals. Some of these players were a great success, while others were colossal failures for the club.
#1 Dimitar Berbatov - Tottenham Hotspur
Dimitar Berbatov signed from Tottenham Hotspur during the summer of 2008 for £34.2 million. Berbatov made 148 appearances for United, scoring 56 goals and providing 26 assists. He won two Premier League titles, a League Cup and a Club World Cup before leaving the club in January 2014. The Bulgarian was a top striker and one of the most elegant players the Premier League has ever seen.
Berbatov used to create space for himself with some brilliant skills and was lethal in front of goal. He played at Fulham and AS Monaco, among other clubs, before retiring at the Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters in 2018.
#2 Robin Van Persie - Arsenal
Robin Van Persie spent eight seasons at Arsenal and was adored by their fans, but 'The Gunners' failed to agree to a contract extension and Sir Alex Ferguson made a move. The Dutch striker made 105 appearances for the club, scoring 58 goals and providing 21 assists. Van Persie will always be remembered for his 2012-2013 season when he single-handedly won United the title.
Van Persie won one Premier League title during his career at the club, which also happened to be the last title the team won. The player left the club in 2015 to sign for Fenerbahce before retiring at Feyenoord in 2019. Van Persie was a glorious striker, scoring some of the most iconic goals in football. Nobody can forget his diving header finish at the FIFA World Cup in 2014. United have failed to find a talisman like him, but the search continues.
#3 Juan Mata - Chelsea
Juan Mata was the player of the year at Chelsea for two successive seasons, but Jose Mourinho did not picture him in his team. The club sold Mata to Manchester United during the January transfer window in 2014 for £40.26 million. For United, it was touted as a great deal; Mata was only 26-years-old and was dominating the Premier League in total goal contributions.
Mata made 285 appearances for the club, scoring 51 goals and providing 47 assists. He accumulated one FA Cup, one League Cup, and one Europa League at the club before leaving this summer after his contract expired. Mata was a casualty of United's managerial woes. Managers failed to play him in a central role and often pushed him out wide, wasting his best years. If he had played primarily as a central-midfielder, odds are that he'd have been more threatening to the opposition's goal.
#4 Nemanja Matić - Chelsea
Nemanja Matić signed for Manchester United from Chelsea as a Premier League winner in the summer of 2017. The club paid Chelsea £40.23 million for the 28-year-old's services, and on paper, it looked like a good signing. United lacked a defensive midfielder and hoped Matić would help unleash Paul Pogba.
Matić made 188 appearances for the club, scoring four goals and providing 11 assists. He left the club this summer as his contract expired, having won no trophies during his five-year spell. Matić was another player who suffered due to a lack of stability at the club as he failed to reach the heights he had once enjoyed at Chelsea.
#5 Alexis Sanchez - Arsenal To Manchester United
Alexis Sanchez was part of a famous swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move to 'The Gunners' and Sanchez to Manchester. Manchester City and Pep Guardiola wanted the player, but the folks at Old Trafford convinced Sanchez to sign for the red-half of the city. The club paid Sanchez exorbitant wages and unveiled him in January 2018 with a video of him playing the piano at Old Trafford.
The club thought they were getting another Van Persie, but they were mistaken. Alexis made a total of 45 appearances, scoring five goals and providing nine assists during his tenure. Sanchez was loaned out to Inter Milan 18 months later, where he has remained ever since. It was one of the worst transfers in Premier League history, and the club have not signed from a rival since 2018.
