Five players who are faring better after leaving Manchester United

It is often a tricky call for a club when it comes to selling their players – especially when it means losing a promising youngster who can’t be assured of regular game time because of competition for places or because another club is offering a significant fee for one of the star players.The clubs’ fans tend to follow the fortunes of their ex-players, with the hope that the decision by the club to not retain these players is proven to be a correct one.After an indifferent run of form in recent times by the Manchester United team, one wouldn’t blame their fans for looking at some of the Red Devils’ former players doing well at other clubs and wishing that at least some of them weren’t sold. In this article, we look at five players who are currently faring better at their present clubs than during their time at Old Trafford.

#5 ngel Di Mara

Di Maria has made an impressive start to life with the French Champions

Record at Manchester United: 27 appearances (20 starts), 3 goals and 10 assists

Record at Paris Saint-Germain: 17 appearances (15 starts), 7 goals and 6 assists

The Argentine international arrived at Old Trafford from Real Madrid in August 2014 for a record £59.7 million fee and began his Manchester United career in impressive fashion by scoring a goal and providing an assist on his home debut, in which he was also named the Man of the Match.

He enjoyed a good run of form for a couple of months, before injuries and change of tactics by manager Louis van Gaal led to a sharp decline in his performances to the extent that at the end of the season, Di María was considered by many as one of the worst signings of the season.

The summer of 2015 saw Manchester United taking a loss on the player by selling him to PSG (a club with whom Di María was heavily linked a year before) for £44.3 million. While some question marks have been raised about the level of his performances for PSG as well, Di María has put in some good performances for the Ligue 1 runaway leaders.

However, he has already matched his Manchester United 2014-15 season tally of goals plus assists with almost half of the 2014-15 season still to play.

#4 Javier Hernndez

Hernandez has started his Leverkusen career in emphatic fashion

Record at Manchester United: 127 appearances (63 starts), 44 goals

Record at Bayer Leverkusen: 17 appearances (15 starts), 11 goals

With Manchester United struggling for goals this season, a trending statistic on the social media is that former striker Javier Hernández has scored more goals than the entire Red Devils team since October. The Mexican forward, who spent last season on loan at Real Madrid, was sold to Bayer Leverkusen this summer after being deemed surplus to United’s requirements.

Chicharito enjoyed an impressive goals-per-minute ratio at United with almost half of his appearances coming off the bench. But the presence of other strikers in the squad often meant he wasn’t first choice and he couldn’t cement his place. Enjoying a regular starting role at Leverkusen, the striker is enjoying a rich vein of form and was named Bundesliga player of the month for November’15.

Many Manchester United fans have been left wondering about what would have been if the player was allowed to stay at the club this season, given the lack of goals from other strikers.

#3 Paul Pogba

Letting Pogba leave to Juventus is considered by many as one of the biggest blunders by the club

Record at Manchester United: 3 appearances (0 starts)

Record at Juventus: 140 appearances (118 starts), 24 goals, 18 assists, 16 Man of the match awards

After joining Manchester United as a 16-year-old, Pogba was fast-tracked from the junior ranks to the first-team by Sir Alex Ferguson within 2 years. Rated highly since the early days of his career, Pogba was expected to be a Manchester United regular in years to come.

However a lack of opportunities in the first-team (he never got to start a game – with an instance of wing-back Rafael preferred ahead of him for a central midfield role) and agent Mino Raiola’s influence led to Pogba not signing a new contract with the Red Devils and the player signed for Juventus, where he has gone on to develop as one of the best midfielders in the world.

Manchester United were awarded a relatively meagre compensation fee of £800,000 while the player is now valued at a sum almost 90 times the amount.

#2 Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo reached a whole new level after his move to Madrid from Manchester

Record at Manchester United: 118 goals from 292 matches, Ballon d’Or-1

Record at Real Madrid: 330 goals from 319 appearances, Ballon d’Or-2

While Ronaldo won more silverware in the 6 years he spent at Old Trafford (including 3 league titles and 1 Champions League) than his haul in the same time period in Madrid (1 league title and 1 Champions League), the Portuguese has taken his game to another level and is considered one of the two best players in the world (alongside Lionel Messi) after his record £80 million move to the Spanish capital in 2009.

Ronaldo was a key player to United’s success but at Madrid he became the central figure around whom a team of world class stars was built. His record at United was impressive, but a quick glance at his statistics at Madrid will show that his performances there have been nothing short of phenomenal as he averages more than a goal every match, and has broken almost all goal-scoring records.

While the Los Blancos haven’t achieved success as a team to the extent Ronaldo would have liked in this period, the player has won plenty of individual awards for his efforts – including the prestigious FIFA Ballon d’Or.

#1 Gerard Piqu

Pique struggled to break into a United side that had Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinanad as first choice defenders

Record at Manchester United: Won 1 League title and 1 Champions League

Record at Barcelona: Won 5 La Liga titles, 3 Champions League titles, 3 Super Cups, 2 Club World Cups and many more!

Another player who left Manchester United for a Spanish powerhouse, Gerard Piqué tops this list ahead of Ronaldo only because of the incredible success he’s had at Barcelona in terms of trophies won as compared to his performances at Manchester United.

A product of the famed Barcelona academy La Masia, Piqué opted to sign his first professional contract with Manchester United. His versatility meant he was played in different defensive positions including defensive midfield role. The player was loaned to Real Zaragoza in 2006-07 and returned in the following year to win the EPL and Champions League medals. However, the player was unable to cement a spot in a strong Manchester United side.

Barcelona moved to re-sign the player for £5 million in the summer of 2008 and the player was happy to return to his boyhood club. Piqué quickly established himself as a first-choice centre-back and formed a defensive partnership with Carlos Puyol. He went on to develop as one of the best central defenders in the world and also cemented his spot in the Spanish national side which won the World Cup in 2010 and Euro 2012.