The 20-time English champions have made some amazing signings over the years, but they have not been without their bloopers in the market either
Some of the signings made by Manchester United over the course of the last 30 years have changed the football world as we know it. But for every Cantona there's a Kleberson.
Louis van Gaal and David Moyes received criticism for their various failures in the market, but Sir Alex Ferguson racked a fair few up in his 27 seasons too and he was far from the first United boss to be made to look a bit silly.
Perhaps a club as successful as United is there to be shot at more than most, so poor signings are remembered with some fondness by rival fans. But there has been plenty of ammunition offered up over the years in that regard.
Below, Goal goes through the 15 worst signings that the Reds have ever made…
Getty ImagesBEBE | From Vitoria Guimaraes | £7.4m | 2010
Bebe’s arrival at Manchester United was a real curiosity from the start, coming barely a year after he had been playing at the Homeless World Cup. It was also a point of note that his Old Trafford move had come days after a change in agents, with his new partners Gestifute having worked closely with United before.
What followed was an unmitigated disaster. Bebe never made a Premier League start for the club so obvious was his lack in quality, and he tallied only seven appearances in total before being sent on various loans over the following three seasons.
United eventually got him off the books in 2014 ahead of two failed seasons with Benfica, and Bebe later admitted he hadn’t wanted to be a footballer when he was younger. “I had eight years in an orphanage. There, I did not like football but my friends always wanted to play and I had no choice but to join in.”
AdvertisementGetty ImagesGARRY BIRTLES | From Nottingham Forest | £1.25m | 1980
Back in a period when million-pound footballers were still rather a rare commodity, Garry Birtles seemed something of a bargain following his successful spell with two-time European champions Nottingham Forest.
But he managed only a single FA Cup goal in his first season at Old Trafford under Dave Sexton and struggled throughout his spell with the club. He would net only 11 times in total and was eventually allowed to return to Forest in late 1982 after Ron Atkinson (pictured above) decided he was not going to be a feature of his squad in 1982-83.
These days Birtles is a well-known TV analyst, but thankfully is not asked to reflect on his United experience too often.
GettyMARK BOSNICH | From Aston Villa | Free | 1999
When Manchester United needed a replacement for the departing Peter Schmeichel in 1999, Mark Bosnich appeared ready to step up to the plate. Having had a short spell at Old Trafford when arriving in England in the late 1980s, the Australian had then had a hugely successful seven-year stint in goal for Aston Villa.
But his shortcomings became all-too clear when he returned to Old Trafford, with Sir Alex Ferguson later castigating the goalkeeper’s lack of professionalism in an autobiography. “Mark Bosnich was a terrible professional,” Ferguson wrote. “We played down at Wimbledon and Bosnich was tucking into everything: sandwiches, soups, steaks. He was going through the menu.”
He made only 35 appearances during his second United spell and his career was never the same again.
GettyMEMPHIS DEPAY | From PSV | £25m | 2015
When a former PSV youth coach made comparisons between Memphis Depay and Cristiano Ronaldo shortly before the Dutchman arrived at Manchester United, the player himself was quick to play down the link.
“I don’t want to compare myself with somebody like that,” he said at his unveiling. “That is the best player in the world. I don’t want to talk too much. I want to show it on the pitch.”
Over the next 18 months all he managed to show was just how misplaced those early comparisons had been as he failed to make any impression under either Louis van Gaal or Jose Mourinho. Perhaps the most memorable moment of his spell came in Wayne Rooney’s testimonial, when a badly miscued effort from the No.7 drew giggles from the watching Rooney and his six-year-old son.
He left for Lyon with United retaining a buy-back clause, but it seems wishful thinking at this stage that he will ever be compared with Ronaldo again.