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Manchester United have lost a fortune signing these players who proved to be huge disappointments.
Manchester United are the most successful club in England and they owe their glory greatly to Sir Alex Ferguson's extremely successful reign as the manager of the club. Just as important are the players who have plied their trade for the Old Trafford outfit.
While Manchester United have been able to field some of the finest players in Europe all across their history, some of their decisions in the transfer market have been quite suspect. This is particularly true in the post-Alex Ferguson era.
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Only a few teams can match Manchester United's financial clout but there have been several instances where the Red Devils have failed to make the most of it. On that note, let's take a look at Manchester United's top big-money flops.
Top 5 big-money flops at Manchester United
#5 Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku is on this list for a variety of reasons. He was not a great fit for Manchester United to start with but they were in desperate need of a striker. Big things were expected of the big Belgian when he arrived at Manchester United for a sum of £75 million.
Lukaku enjoyed a decent goalscoring return in his debut season at Manchester United. But he was more in his element playing at Everton, bombing forwards on the counter and taking on defenders than he was at Old Trafford, where he'd play the majority of the game with his back against the goal.
For the amount of money that Manchester United roped him in for, they should have got a long-term solution to their goalscoring troubles and not someone who had to move on after his second season.
Lukaku's poor first-touch and hold-up skills were not conducive to the style of game that Jose Mourinho's replacement, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, wanted to implement at Old Trafford. However, Manchester United were able to recoup almost all of the money they spent on him.
There were also questions regarding his fitness and the less we talk about it, the better. His profligacy in front of goal didn't help and cost Manchester United dearly towards the end of his stint.
#4 Juan Sebastian Veron
It is an absolute shame that Juan Sebastian Veron's signing did not work out for Manchester United. Veron was easily one of the finest midfielders of his generation and he arrived at Old Trafford from Lazio for a £28.1 million which was a big figure in 2001.
He had stints at Sampdoria and Parma before burgeoning into one of the best midfielders in Europe at Lazio. He was so good for Lazio that Sir Alex Ferguson immediately sanctioned signing him for an amount that would be the British transfer record at the time.
After getting off to a flying start, Veron struggled in the heart of Manchester United's midfield. He found the high-octane, all-action nature of the Premier League difficult to cope with. Afforded less time and space on the ball, Veron struggled to deliver in the English top-flight.
He did so much better in the Champions League for the Red Devils but eventually it became a signing that did not work out and Manchester United sold him to title-rivals Chelsea two seasons after securing his services. Veron went on to endure an extremely difficult stint with the West Londoners as well.
#3 Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Henrikh Mkhitaryan arrived at Manchester United for £30 million in the summer of 2016 with a lot of hype surrounding him. After all, he was voted the Bundesliga Player's Player of the Season in the season prior. Mkhitaryan was a force to be reckoned with in the Borussia Dortmund midfield.
Mkhitaryan impressed intermittently with his contributions coming largely in the Europa League in his debut season. However, he continued to struggle in the Premier League and it eventually led to Jose Mourinho icing him out of the first-team.
Mkhitaryan was expected to provide a creative spark in midfield for Manchester United but he ended up adding to their problems. The Armenian international, who was adored by the Old Trafford faithful, left Manchester United and joined Arsenal as part of a swap deal that saw Alexis Sanchez go the other way.
#2 Angel Di Maria
If you strictly stick to Angel Di Maria's numbers at Manchester United, you could say that his inclusion in this list is unwarranted. Angel Di Maria was yet another player that Manchester United broke the British transfer record to sign. They paid £59.7 million to secure his services from Real Madrid.
The Argentine got off to the best start under Louis van Gaal and looked like he'd do justice to the legacy of the no.7 shirt previously worn by the likes of George Best, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. He scored a couple of spectacular goals against the likes of Leicester and Arsenal.
However, he suffered a hamstring injury subsequently and was out of the team for a while. Upon his return, things started to get worse for Di Maria and they hit a nadir when he was shown a red card in Manchester United's FA Cup tie with Arsenal for diving and tugging at referee Michael Oliver's shirt.
Despite his struggles, Manchester United fans were desperate for him to kick on at the club. However, Di Maria had already decided to leave, and Manchester United sold him to Paris Saint-Germain for a sum reported to be around £44 million.
#1 Alexis Sanchez
Brought in as part of a straight swap in January 2019, Alexis Sanchez's signing was expected to transform Manchester United into title-contenders. Sanchez had just had his best individual campaign in the season prior. But the way in which Sanchez capitulated at Manchester United was unprecedented.
The Chilean international was awful playing for Jose Mourinho in a system where he had no place. Not only was he not contributing on the pitch but he also proved disruptive to the flow of the game and kept losing the ball trying to get past defenders. The fact that he was on around £500,000 a week in wages did not help at all.
There were suggestions that Manchester United had gone ahead with the decision to sign him just to rob Manchester City off the chance to bolster an already spectacular side.
Sanchez struggled to pull his weight on the field and though he did have a couple of notable outings against the likes of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, his stint at Manchester United was greatly forgettable.
He scored just five goals from across 45 appearances for Manchester United and it's safe to say that Manchester United fans were happy to see him leave on a loan deal in 2019 which was subsequently made permanent in the summer of 2020.
Manchester United had to pay a great chunk of his salary when he was on loan with the Nerazzurri as well. As far as big-money signings go, Alexis Sanchez at Manchester United has to be the benchmark for flops.
