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Manchester United are undoubtedly one of the greatest football clubs with all its rich history and reputation. The Manchester club dominated the English League as well as the UEFA Champions League, winning more trophies than any other club in English football, with a record 20 League titles, 12 FA Cups, 5 League Cups and a record 21 FA Community Shields.
In the era of Sir Alex Ferguson, the club peaked its dominance, winning many league and domestic titles consistently. Sir Ferguson's reign started in 1986 and ended in 2013 during which he won 13 League trophies, 2 Champions League and a treble in 1998/99. Sir Alex Ferguson's managerial job introduced big players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes to the footballing world. Ryan Giggs who played for the Manchester Club during Fergie's time is the most decorated player in English football history.
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There have been many players and managers who have tried to achieve the same feat for the club as their predecessors but have not really impressed, most of them being transferred out after labelling flops as by the media and the fans.
Things were in control when Sir Ferguson was at the wheel but since his departure, Manchester United has witnessed many talents that were promising but couldn't live up to their potential and expectations. Here are 5 of them.
#5 Adnan Januzaj
Adnan Januzaj is a Belgian footballer who on the right wing for the Spanish club Real Sociedad. He has represented Belgium in 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup reaching in the semi-finals of the latter. Now at 24, Januzaj once was considered a very high rated prolific youngster who was destined for greatness. He began his career with Anderlecht before joining Manchester United in 2011 at the age of 16. He managed to broke in the first team under David Moyes but struggled to find a consistent game-time under Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho. Thus went out for a couple of loan spells to Borussia Dortmund and Sunderland in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Januzaj's time at Manchester United has been often regarded as poor and weak. He was still very young when he started to play for the club through the right wing but only managed to score five times while assisting just six times in 63 club games in all competitions. Although creative and exciting on the ball, he wasn't really generating the right impact on the wing and was pretty wasteful as well. If he was given more time and attention to help him reach his potential, he could have turned into a real threat for the opposition every time he had the ball.
Januzaj's career really dipped after joining Manchester United, wasting several years before signing for Real Sociedad. He hasn't been doing wonders in this season as well, scoring just once in 13 league games while assisting three. He has maintained a decent enough 75.9 percentage of passing average throughout the league but hasn't produced any impact.
Januzaj couldn't really live up to his potential and turned from a destined superstar to a flop in just a matter of years.
#4 Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha is an Ivory Coast international who plays for the English club Crystal Palace. He is known for his commanding skills over the ball and his masterclass assists. Zaha was the last signing of the legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. He showed a real promise and was destined to be a successful winger but things changed when Ferguson left and Moyes was announced as the new manager.
He joined Manchester United for £10 million and was termed as the next big star after his flashy skills and flair movement but eventually went back on loan to Crystal Palace immediately for the remainder of the season. He had short loan terms throughout his Manchester United career and Zaha approved the fact that David Moyes never really gave him a chance. This could have been a different case if Sir Alex would've stayed but David Moyes came in with a different philosophy and changed the game-style of the club, excluding Zaha from the plan.
Zaha has been an important figure to the club this season. He has played 28 times for the Eagles and has scored eight times while providing seven assists. He has a decent record of 76.5% passing accuracy, winning five Man Of The Match while maintaining a 7.16 average score throughout the season.
He could have reached his potential at the Manchester club only if he had got the chances he deserved.
#3 Memphis Depay
Memphis Depay is a Dutch International who plays for the French Club Lyon. He is commonly known as Memphis. He plays on the right wing for his club and the national and his marquee abilities involve accurate long shots and free-kicks plus exciting dribbling. He has always been in the controversies with his off-field life and many managers have developed a problem with him due to the same reason.
Depay began his professional career with PSV and instantly turned into a peripheral figure for the club scoring 50 goals in 124 matches during his time in the Netherlands. He was the top scorer in the 2014/15 season, winning the award by scoring 22 goals in 30 matches while playing on the wing helping the Dutch team to win the league after seven years.
The current Lyon player joined Manchester United in 2015 for a reported fee of £25 million on a four-year contract and was given the iconic jersey number 7 by the club. He kicked off his career at the club with two goals and an assist in the Champions League which made him an instant crowd favourite. But things did not go as smooth as everyone would've thought. Memphis started to struggle under Louis van Gaal's game-style and weren't effective at all. This downfall booked a place for him onto the bench. From then on, he was seen making cameos but with no real effect. Things got worse for Depay in the 2016-17 season where he managed a total of 20 minutes of game time coming from four appearances. He scored seven goals and assisted six times in 53 matches in all competitions which were far from his potential and target score.
In January of 2017, Memphis signed for the French club Lyon and established himself instantly. He has been doing wonders this season for the club scoring eight times while assisting 14 times in all competitions for the club.
Memphis could have been another world class player but only if he had sought himself out at the Manchester club.
#2 Angel Di Maria
Angel Di Maria is an Argentine sensation who kicked off his professional career with Rosario Central in Argentina. He joined Benfica in July of 2005 where he learned to play as a winger. He was signed to replace the outgoing Benfica captain Simao who was on his way to Atletico Madrid and managed settled pretty quickly in Portugal. He later joined the Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2010 and was an instant hit. In his first season, he impressed a lot with his quirky skills and movement but during the start of the 2011–12 season, Di María endured a tough series of matches as he struggled to adapt to the pace of the league following the summer break. As a result, Di María's early performance for the season was mixed with moments of genuinely good play interspersed with moments of sheer madness.
Di Maria was a greatly respected player in Real Madrid and was acknowledged for his hard work but even after such praises, he decided to join Manchester United in 2014 and inherited the iconic jersey number 7 which had been previously worn by legends like George Best, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. Things were looking good for the Argentinian in the month of September where he won the player of the month after recording two goals and two assists. Just after this, he was struck by a hamstring injury due to which he missed many matches and returned only to display a bad form. Louis van Gaal stuck with him till the last in order to get the best out of him but failed. He scored four goals with 12 assists in 32 matches in all competitions. He had the talent to make it at United, but he didn’t have the desire, he didn’t have the heart.
#1 Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez is a world class player and has proved himself in LaLiga and Premier League with Barcelona and Arsenal respectively. He joined Barcelona in 2011 from Udinese for a reported fee of €26million which included €11.5 as some bonus for the Italian club. He became the first ever Chilean to play for the Spanish club.
Sanchez came as a young attack-minded winger who could play at three positions but his preferred position was the right wing where he played most of the time. His game included mazing runs with an eye for the goal and was often seen in the opposition's box. His signature move, the chipped-style crosses into the box were not really preferred as the striker at his time in Barcelona was Lionel Messi who is not known for his aerial skills.
Sanchez joined Arsenal in 2014 for a reported fee of £31.7 million. He was an instant hit at the Emirates as he managed to settle in the squad pretty easily. His bonding with German international Mesut Ozil was one to watch as they stepped up Arsenal's game in a way that was never seen before. His goal tally for Arsenal is equally appreciable, the winger found the net 80 times while assisting 45 times in just 166 games in all competitions.
He has been underperforming for the Red Devils scoring only two goals and assisting three times in 27 league outings. Although he has a decent passing average of 74.7%, he hasn't really produced his magical performance. He is 30 years old and time is running out for him to impress.
