It wouldn’t be unfair to call Manchester United’s downfall since Sir Alex Ferguson retired a massive disappointment. In fact, after finishing in 15th place in the 2024/25 Premier League, one could even go as far as calling it a disaster.
One key element of their fall from grace has been the catalogue of errors in the transfer market. From failed loans to world-record flops, United have a pretty embarrassing charge sheet.
But who is the worst of the worst? We have had a go at naming and shaming the worst arrivals at Old Trafford since the summer of 2013.
Ranking factors
In order to rank these players, we have considered the following criteria:
- Transfer fee – whether they overpaid for the player
- Injuries – how often they were unavailable during their time at the club
- Moments to forget – whether they had embarrassed themselves in a United shirt
- Expectation v reality – how much difference there was between how well they were expected to perform and their actual performances
- Damaging reputation – if their transfer and/or performances hurt the team
Note: All stats courtesy of Transfermarkt and correct as of 15th August 2025.
10: Anthony Martial
Signed from Monaco for £36m (2015)
The main fault with Manchester United’s signing of Anthony Martial is the price – not only did they spend £36m on a largely unproven teenager (Martial became the most expensive teen of all time), but they could have ended up spending as much as £58m.
Given how the Frenchman’s United career panned out, we’ll stick our necks out and suggest he didn’t activate too many add-ons.
And despite a promising start at Old Trafford with three goals in his first two Premier League matches – which led to comparisons to Thierry Henry – things soon fizzled out as Martial never nailed down a starting role, despite eventually reaching 90 goals in United colours.
| Anthony Martial Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career | 2015-2024 |
| Appearances | 317 |
| Goals | 90 |
| Assists | 54 |
9: Memphis Depay
Signed from PSV for £31m (2015)
The summer 2015 transfer window wasn’t exactly a raging success, with the expensive Martial arguably the best of a bad bunch.
In fairness to Man Utd, Memphis Depay had shown some promise at PSV ahead of his move, but he failed to show his best in the Premier League, with a particularly bad day at Stoke springing to mind.
While he went on to shine in France for Lyon, Depay’s time at United was inconsistent at best, so was he poorly managed?
Perhaps the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin, Matteo Darmian and Bastian Schweinsteiger can testify to that…
| Memphis Depay Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career | 2015-2017 |
| Appearances | 53 |
| Goals | 7 |
| Assists | 5 |
8: Andre Onana
Signed from Inter for £47.2m (2023)
Signing soon after guiding Inter to the Champions League final in 2023, Andre Onana had the look of a solid long-term successor to David de Gea.
And despite winning the FA Cup at the end of his first season at the club, Onana’s track record between the sticks has been riddled with errors, from spilled shots and crosses to passing to attackers.
The Cameroonian isn’t exactly someone who fills you with confidence at the back, to the point where another season of gaffes could spell the end for him at United.
| Andre Onana Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career | 2023-present |
| Appearances | 101 |
| Clean sheets | 24 |
| Goals conceded | 148 |
| Errors leading to goals (all comps) | 6 |
7: Radamel Falcao
Signed on loan from Monaco for £6m (2014)
In one of the most expensive loan of all time, Radamel Falcao joined Manchester United to boost their attacking options in Louis van Gaal’s first season at the club.
But his move was a financial and footballing disaster. With four goals in 26 top-flight appearances, United were hardly going to exercise their £43.5m option to buy the Colombian.
Given his previous exploits in Portugal and Spain, it was certainly an ambitious move fitting for a club like United, but Falcao returned to Monaco before flopping again at Chelsea.
| Radamel Falcao Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career | 2014-2015 |
| Appearances | 29 |
| Goals | 4 |
| Assists | 5 |
6: Donny van de Beek
Signed from Ajax for £35m (2020)
Bought for £35m, sold for less than £500k. That is the story of Donny van de Beek’s Manchester United career.
He would have arrived to much fanfare but for the behind-closed-doors campaign in 2020/21, which only served as a metaphor for the muted nature of his Old Trafford stint.
In the squad as much as he wasn’t, and with few notable moments to speak of, much more must have been expected of the Dutchman after dazzling for Ajax to warrant his high-profile move.
| Donny van de Beek Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career | 2020-2024 |
| Appearances | 62 |
| Goals | 2 |
| Assists | 2 |
5: Paul Pogba
Signed from Juventus for £89m (2016)
It was meant to be the reunion of the generation. But Paul Pogba failed to live up to the billing after United pulled out all the stops to seal a world-record move for the Frenchman, four years after his departure to Juventus.
Pogba started well enough, but with the Red Devils unable to return to the top of the English game, the club careered off into relative purgatory as the midfielder’s influence waned.
It was an expensive mistake, although further errors in the transfer market were arguably more damaging to the team.
| Paul Pogba Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career (second spell) | 2016-2022 |
| Appearances | 226 |
| Goals | 39 |
| Assists | 51 |
4: Cristiano Ronaldo
Signed from Juventus for £12.8m (2021)
One such example was the return of Cristiano Ronaldo. Brought in as a temporary morale-booster, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to bring his former teammate back to Old Trafford looked like a masterstroke, with the club looking to solidify untapped title credentials by signing one of the world’s best.
But despite a barnstorming start to his second spell, everything unravelled in the wrong way for United, with Solskjaer out the door just a couple of months later.
An apparent rift with the Norwegian’s successor, Erik ten Hag, saw Ronaldo’s homecoming come to an acrimonious end. The pair clearly didn’t see eye to eye, and the player’s antics eventually started to affect the team for the worse.
The fact that the Red Devils flourished without him (in Ten Hag’s first season, at least) meant Ronaldo’s return left everyone involved with egg on their face.
| Cristiano Ronaldo Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career (second spell) | 2021-2022 |
| Appearances | 54 |
| Goals | 27 |
| Assists | 5 |
3: Jadon Sancho
Signed from Borussia Dortmund for £73m (2021)
Somehow, Ronaldo’s ill-fated comeback was by no means Solskjaer’s biggest fumble.
United were in the mood to make some statements ahead of the 2021/22 season, and while the arrival of Raphael Varane was a signal of intent and proof of their pulling power, their capture of ex-Man City talent Jadon Sancho could have been considered an almighty coup.
But Sancho has spent the last few years rebuilding his career as a result of life in Manchester not going to plan, with a particularly low moment coming under the reign of Ten Hag, who resorted to suspending the winger from the first team.
Given that Sancho’s fortunes did not improve after United’s change(s) in management, it’s difficult to lay the blame solely at Solskjaer’s door, but there’s no denying his signing was an unfortunate and colossal waste of money.
| Jadon Sancho Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career | 2021-present |
| Appearances | 83 |
| Goals | 12 |
| Assists | 6 |
| Games without playing | 60 |
2: Angel Di Maria
Signed from Real Madrid for £59.7m (2014)
Still reeling from their awful first season post-Ferguson, Man Utd sought to make up for it by cherry-picking one of the game’s best players from the European champions, Real Madrid.
Angel Di Maria arrived with plenty of expectation on his shoulders, but he failed to forge a successful career in the Premier League after sealing what was a British record deal.
The Argentinian endured an up-and-down season, with his audacious chip against Leicester City tempered by an embarrassing red card in the FA Cup.
United ended up making a loss on the 2022 World Cup winner less than a year later, with their trophyless campaign in 2014/15 capping a miserable 12 months for all concerned.
| Angel Di Maria Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career | 2014-2015 |
| Appearances | 32 |
| Goals | 4 |
| Assists | 11 |
1: Antony
Signed from Ajax for £82m (2022)
It only took Antony 35 minutes to get his United account up and running, but that was as good as it got.
The Brazilian joined from Ajax, where Erik ten Hag had previously worked with him, so the feeling would have been that he could bring his pace and flair to Old Trafford as they looked to regain their place among England’s elite.
But unless you define ‘flair’ as dribbling around unopposed in a circle, Antony has done very little to warrant his gargantuan £82m transfer fee.
In the defence of the player, it could be argued that he is another victim, alongside the likes of Sancho and Van de Beek, of floundering amid the unwelcome environment at Manchester United – particularly given he was a star for Real Betis during his loan spell in 2024/25.
Though there is little sympathy for the Red Devils here, who could have (and should have) put that money to much better use. It’s difficult to find a more expensive flop from the club’s illustrious history.
| Antony Man Utd stats | Total |
|---|---|
| Career | 2022-present |
| Appearances | 96 |
| Goals | 12 |
| Assists | 5 |
| Games per goal involvement | 5.65 |
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