Top 10 Man Utd’s Biggest Flop Signings Of Glazers Era

It seems the Glazers family’s 18-year reign at Manchester United is finally coming to an end after all the demonstrations, commotion, disappointment, and division. Or at least that’s what the majority of United supporters are still expecting in the midst of a tiresome takeover drama that appears destined to last until the start of the 2023–24 season.

Before the Glazers became the club’s new owners in 2005, United had no debt. They only put up £270 million ($346 million) of their own money in the acquisition, borrowing the rest from the club. And ever then, the Glazer family has been charged with utilising the Red Devils as a cash cow to support their American business empire.

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They haven’t tried to mend fences with the United supporters either, rarely bothering to go to games or push through expansion plans for Old Trafford. Another indication that they are absentee owners is that co-chairman Joel Glazer has managed United’s business operations from the comfort of his office in Washington.

Nobody, however, has ever accused the Glazers of neglecting to make investments in the first-team group. Since their arrival, United has spent almost to £2 billion ($2.6 billion) on new players, including a club-record £210 million ($269 million) in the summer of 2022. Additionally, under the American family, United has amassed 13 significant trophies, including five Premier League championships and the Champions League.

However, after Sir Alex Ferguson left as manager in 2013, the Red Devils have struggled to consistently win silverware, with the majority of the club’s most well-known purchases turning out to be big letdowns. Success is not always a result of money.

Which players stand out as the worst in terms of the Red Devils’ transfer dealings under their American owners?

THEEAGLE is here to highlight with our definitive ranking of United’s biggest flop signings of the Glazer era:

10. Victor Valdes

The legendary Valdes of Barcelona first arrived at Old Trafford in October 2014 to finish his recovery from a knee injury that had prevented him from moving to Monaco. The Spaniard joined the Red Devils in the new year on an 18-month deal, but he only played in two games for the team before being transferred to Middlesbrough.

When then-manager Louis van Gaal said that goalkeeper Victor Valdes had declined to participate in a reserve game, the situation for Valdes was already sealed. He was left out of the United team picture for the 2015–16 season and had his locker taken away as a result, but he didn’t harbour any ill will towards Van Gaal.

Valdes said to Sky Sports after the game, “He’s like a father figure to me.” “I don’t want to have a terrible memory of the past six months since, in my opinion, he is the best. No issues exist between us, and we are still friends.

9. Radamel Falcao

With the loan signing of Falcao from Monaco, where he had 11 goals in 20 Ligue 1 games the previous season, United believed they had pulled off one of the biggest coups of the summer 2014 transfer window.

After successful runs at Porto and Atletico Madrid, Falcao had established a reputation as one of Europe’s most lethal strikers, but in Monaco, injuries started to hinder him. United invested a total of £16 million ($20 million) in the acquisition, including wages, despite these red flags, and it turned out to be a costly error.

United decided not to exercise their buy option on the Colombian after he scored only four goals in 29 games. When Falcao went on to have a similarly disastrous run at Chelsea, with English spectators never getting to see El Tigre at his peak, that choice was vindicated.

8. Wilfried Zaha

When Zaha transferred from Crystal Palace to Manchester United for £15 million ($19 million), big things were anticipated of him. Ferguson had personally persuaded the 20-year-old to sign with the Red Devils after following his development at Selhurst Park for the previous three years.

But when he finally got to Old Trafford, Ferguson had already left, and David Moyes, Ferguson’s replacement, practically treated him like a bother. Zaha only played 167 minutes for United because he couldn’t persuade Van Gaal of his value. In 2015, he made a permanent return to Palace.

Zaha admitted to The Sun in 2018 that he was troubled by damaging rumours off the pitch. He said, “I went through so much at United. Nobody made an effort to dispel the notion that I wasn’t playing for United because I had slept with David Moyes’ daughter. Despite having money while working for United, I remained really down and unhappy.

7. Donny van de Beek

No one really understood why United decided to invest £35m ($45m) in Ajax midfielder Van de Beek in September 2020, and three years later, it still doesn’t make any sense. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was well-stocked in Van de Beek’s position at the time of his arrival, and was clearly reluctant to use the Dutchman right from the very start.

After reconnecting with his former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag, Van van Beek hoped for a new lease on life. However, form and fitness eluded the 26-year-old player last season. It would be a great surprise if he is still a United player at the end of the current transfer window after suffering a significant knee injury in January.

6. Alexis Sanchez

In most ill-advised announcement video in football history, the Red Devils brought out a grand piano for Sanchez to perform “Glory, Glory Man United.” The Chilean was great at Arsenal, but in his final few months with the club, questions were raised regarding his conduct on the pitch, and United fans quickly discovered why.

Sanchez scored just three goals for United during a terrify one-and-a-half season stint, appearing willing to take his rumoured £14 million salary in exchange for little work. The former Barcelona great quit dribbling at his opponents, shooting from a distance, and taking chances in the offensive third of the pitch that made him so challenging to contain at Arsenal.

After departing United in 2019, Mourinho told The Telegraph, “I think it’s difficult to perform at every level in any job you have when you’re not happy.” But the truth is, I’ve always thought of Sanchez as “a sad man.”

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger, Sanchez’s former manager at Arsenal, said of his struggles: “I believe he has lost confidence. The strength of Alexis Sanchez is to show initiative, to dribble, to take people on. These players are the most vulnerable when they have no confidence anymore because their game is based on feeling free to take the initiative.”

As United reeled from the most disastrous trade of the modern Premier League era, Sanchez was loaned to Inter for the entirety of the 2019–20 season before joining the Nerazzurri outright.

5. Memphis Depay

Since Ronaldo’s first stint at the club ended in 2009, United hasn’t had much success with the No. 7 jersey. Depay, a 21-year-old who concluded the 2014–15 season as PSV’s leading scorer in the Eredivisie with 22 goals, appeared to have the ability to follow in the Portuguese’s footsteps.

Depay’s signing cost the Red Devils £31 million ($40 million), but it soon became clear that he wasn’t suited for life in the Premier League. After making just seven goals in 53 appearances for United, the Netherlands international was traded to Lyon in January 2017. Mourinho later provided an explanation for why the player never quite fit in at Old Trafford.

“I read something about Wayne Rooney telling that Memphis went to a reserve match playing with the kids and he arrived with this big Rolls Royce and his cowboy hat and that was a little bit of Memphis,” the former United boss told talkSPORT.

“There are fantastic players to fight with you for a position [at the biggest clubs]. They lose a little bit of their sense of reality and they become a little bit childish, which was, in the end, what happened.”

4. Harry Maguire

Maguire, the most expensive defender in the world and the current United bench warmer, is next on the list. After Ten Hag was appointed last year, Maguire’s playing time significantly decreased. After losing out to Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez in the squad’s hierarchy, the England international was limited to just eight Premier League starts in 2022–2023.

Despite arriving at United from Leicester City in a record-breaking £80 million ($102 million) move in 2019, Maguire was only named captain six months later. However, he has never seemed like the proper leader. He has also become a popular target for haters because to his record price tag, with supporters on social media quick to point out any obvious errors or unpleasant incidents.

If Maguire leaves as predicted this summer, United would be left with a significant loss, but it would be better for them to sacrifice their pride than keep him on the roster for another year. Ten Hag is aware that the 30-year-old is simply not up to the necessary standard.

3. Jadon Sancho

Since moving to United from Dortmund for £73 million ($93 million) in July 2021, Sancho has also had to deal with the stress that comes with a high transfer cost. Given how long the Red Devils fought to recruit him, he has possibly disappointed fans even more than Maguire did.

Sancho was finally signed by United after nearly two years of negotiations with Dortmund, but his low 79-game scoring average of 12 goals and 6 assists suggests they shouldn’t have wasted their time. During his first two seasons at Old Trafford, Sancho has been a shell of the explosive, unpredictable winger who blazed through German football in his youth, and his time at the club may already be over.

Despite fighting his way back into the team, Sancho, 23, is still not performing at the calibre required of a top United winger. Ten Hag banished Sancho from his squad last season because to worries about his mental and physical health.

2. Romelu Lukaku

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 23: Romelu Lukaku of Manchester United reacts during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Manchester United and Juventus at Old Trafford on October 23, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Lukaku appeared to be a lock when United paid Everton £75 million ($96 million) to sign him in 2017, following three incredibly successful seasons at Goodison Park. He appeared to be the last piece in Mourinho’s tactical jigsaw at Old Trafford, scoring 68 Premier League goals for the Toffees, including 25 in his final season.

The Belgian had an immediate impact and ended his first season at United with 28 goals in all competitions, but Mourinho’s team failed to take home any hardware. Furthermore, Lukaku fell short in games against the top six clubs when it really mattered. On the grandest stage, his first touch and finishing let him down, so it wasn’t too shocking when his numbers dropped in 2018–19—Mourinho was fired midway through what turned out to be a catastrophic season.

The former Everton director of football, Steve Walsh, issued a stern warning to the Portuguese manager after witnessing United trade Lukaku to Inter: “I recall telling Jose [Mourinho] to be cautious with Romelu Lukaku when he signed him from Everton. He is a big baby.

1. Angel Di Maria

Di Maria signed with United following his Man-of-the-Match performance in Real Madrid’s 2014 Champions League triumph over Atletico Madrid, however he fell short of his then-British record £60 million ($77 million) asking price.

Although the Argentine struggled to express himself freely in Van Gaal’s tight set-up and his family had a difficult time adjusting to life in Manchester, the player still had magic in his boots as proved by a magnificent chipped effort in a 5-3 Premier League loss to Leicester.

United did well to recoup £44m ($56m) on their initial investment when Paris Saint-Germain swooped to end Di Maria’s Old Trafford nightmare after just one season. And the winger was honest enough to admit he was never the right fit for the Red Devils, telling Le Parisien after his departure: “I didn’t have a great relationship with the coach, so I think the decision to join Paris was the best solution.

“Life in England was a bit difficult. It is not easy for a South American. Some people get on fine, and for others it is harder to adapt.”