Most good players become flops after joining Manchester United

Manchester United is no doubt one of the biggest football club both in England and the world. In terms of revenue,branding,fanbase,history,trophies..United is amongst the top clubs of European football. But on the pitch,the Red Devils have seen a massive drop in quality football and top players.

The Alex Ferguson era featuring the likes of Rooney,Berbatov,Giggs,Cristiano Ronaldo,Paul Scholes,Carrick,Chicharito,Vidic,Ferdinal,Tevez is long gone!

Over the recent few years,Manchester United have a number of signings who became flops and succeeded after leaving Old Trafford.

These footballers were at the top of their game,but when signed by United,their careers took a U turn. When they joined another club,their careers changed once again positively.

The likes of Paul Pogba,Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic don’t fit the above description. Also new signings by Ole Gunnar (Daniel James,Wan Bissaka and Maguire) not part of the description. ManU scouting board may have found the solution.

Players who became flops at Manchester United include: Memphis Depay,Angel Di Maria, Danny Blind,Romelu Lukaku,Alexis Sanchez,Smalling,Fellaini,Fred,Mkhitaryan,Falcao…

• Let’s start from Memphis Depay:

Netherland winger Depay was on fire at the Dutch league playing for PSV. He was seen as the ideal replacement for no.7 Cristiano Ronaldo. Depay was signed with a big-money move to United. He started well but later became a flop and then loaned out to Ligue 1 club Lyon. Now at Lyon,Depay is back to his best. He has become a crucial member of the Lyon attack.

• Angel Di Maria:

Former Real Madrid star Di Maria was one of the reasons Cristiano Ronaldo scored lots of goals for Real Madrid. Di Maria and Mesut Ozil are worldclass assist makers. On joining United,just like Depay,the Argentine started well before becoming a flop at Old Trafford. He then joined french champions Paris Saint-Germain and instantly became a star. He’s also haunted his former club United in UCL competitions scoring superb goals.

• Alexis Sanchez:

The Chilean star was worldclass at Arsenal,joined Manchester United,became the highest paid EPL player then became the flop of the season. Sanchez is now on loan to Inter Milan after fans couldn’t bear with his poor form. Sanchez scored two goals on his debut for new club.

• Henrikh Mkhitaryan:

At Borussia Dortmund few years ago,the playmaker was crowned player of the Bundesliga season before joining Manchester United. His career took a downslide at the club. He was then used as switch move for Sanchez. Mkhitaryan joined Arsenal while Sanchez was brought to Old Trafford. Mkhitaryan continued to struggle in the premier league,now he’s currently at Italian club AS Roma; scored on his debut! 

• Maroune Fellaini: Top player during his time at Everton. Joined Manchester United,Fellaini became kind of a joke to Manchester United fans despite his crucial moment goals. Fellaini is a very good header. He now plays in China. A player unappreciated by United fans.

• Radamel Falcao: Before James Rodriguez came into the limelight,it was all Falcao. The striker was in superb form at Monaco,got signed by Manchester United and his fortunes changed. Falcao couldn’t perform at Old Trafford,got loaned to Chelsea and became worse. He had to return to Monaco in order to rediscover his spark. The Monaco and Atletico Madrid star now plays for Turkish side Galatasaray. Also scored on his debut!

• Brazilian player Fred and Belgium player Lukaku are also examples of players who became flops after joining Manchester United.

Lukaku was a big gun at Everton,got signed by United,became a joke to fans and media as well. He now plays for Antonio Conte’s Inter. Lukaku is on top form for both his current club and his country Belgium. Fred was on a good form at Shakhtar Donetsk,now at United,he’s on a very poor form plus sees less playing time.

• Chris Smalling: Looking at the defender on loan club AS Roma,you begin to wonder if the “poor performance of once-good players” problem is actually caused by Manchester United?

Now United fans want Smalling back,Arsenal also want to bid for the defender.

Probably United don’t create the favorable environment for these top players to give their best performance.

Nevertheless,it looks the problem is gradually over as United now plans to use their youth grown players(Rashford,Greenwood,Mctominay,..)

instead of signing top players who may end up flopping.

Reports suggest Manchester United are targeting a number of good players in January. The likes of Erling Haaland (Salzburg), James Maddison (Leicester City), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham) are included in their list.

🤔🤔🤔!!!