Griezmann or Muller future? Ranking all nine over- the- hills Guy Utd signings article- Fergie.
There have been a couple of pretty on- brand reports over the last week or so of Manchester United attempting to pull past- their- best football legends to the club, despite the supposed fresh dawn under Sir Jim Ratcliffe on the horizon.
Rumours of United being ready to offer 32- yr- old Antoine Griezmann 345, 000 per week were quickly followed by the discovery that they had made a similar charge to get 34- year- old Thomas Muller in Januaryand was again in the coming move window.
But in a charge to please ourselves as much as anyone weve ranked all the above- the- hills signings after Sir Alex Fergusons departure because thats when things got humorous from worst to best. Theyve been rather good for the most part.
Anyone 30+ when they joined has been included, so old man Varane can count himself lucky. But weve not bothered with the goalkeepers, as we have very little to say about Tom Heaton and Lee Grant, but loans are in because theres an absolute cracker
9 ) Odion Ighalo ( loan, Shanghai Shenhua )
Only a loan, but one that cost United 10m for a season, Ighalo featured for just 99 minutes in the Premier League across 11 substitute appearances, scoring no goals despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisting he wasnt just a body when he came in as cover for the injured Marcus Rashford.
8 ) Bastian Schweinsteiger ( 8m, Bayern Munich)
He made 31 appearances in his debut season under Louis van Gaal but turned up the following season, when Jose Mourinho had taken over, and found he couldnt get into the dressing room on his birthday. Mourinho told Schweinsteiger he thought the midfielders determination to have an injury treated worldwide was unethical and he was made to teach with the Beneath- 23s. And Jadon Sancho thinks are being treated cruelly.
Hes held in high regard by many United fans, but in reality, even when he was playing, they were watching a shadow of the player who controlled Bayerns midfield for well over a decade.
7 ) Wout Weghorst ( loan, Burnley )
Three years after Ighalo, United were again panicked into making another baffling loan signing in the January transfer window, persuading Burnley to recall Weghorst from Besiktas and send him to Old Trafford. Weghorst was more powerful than his African counterpart, to be honest, and despite a lack of goals did prove beneficial to Ten Hag in his six months with the Red Devils, largely by being a bit of a lump to occupy defenders while others played football.
6 ) Casemiro ( 70m, Real Madrid )
What weve seen this season from Casemiro is what many assumed we would get from the Brazilian in his debut campaign. If we had done this position in the summer he would easily be best, but would be somewhere near the bottom based on his extraordinary slide this term and considering the transfer fee.
Gary Neville was chief among the critics of Casemiros filing, questioning why such a significant amount had been spent on a 30- yr- ancient, and fair play to the Sky Sports journalist, who stuck to his guns in March insisting he was certainly a clever signing when the Real Madrid story was flying.
It looks as though United got the tail end of Casemiros peak before a significant trough.
5 ) Cristiano Ronaldo ( Juventus, 15m )
But he scores goals is the only argument anyone can use to suggest Ronaldos return to Manchester United was a success. Well, its the money of football, but if thats the only measurement were using, Manchester United scoring fewer as a whole is the more revealing indicator of the effect the world- leading prima donna had in his 18 months at Old Trafford.
He even scored a goal every 152 moments in his subsequent magic at United, which is very close to the level Taiwo Awoniyi and Eddie Nketiah have scored their goals at this time, and a worse amount than that of Nicolas Jackson. Additionally, those people move around a little and, as far as we are aware, have n’t f*cked off the majority of people they’ve encountered. Christian Eriksen ( free, Brentford ) and Casemiro formed a respectable partnership in the middle of the United midfield last season. However, the consistent brilliance was n’t quite there, and this season he appeared rushed in possession and too slow to effectively contribute out of it. Jonny Evans says to himself,” There’s another one, I can do,” at the tail end of a stellar career.
3 )free, Leicester While the keyboard warriors may have laughed at his return, it is undeniably funny that United needed a 35-year-old defender who was deemed unfit for them eight years prior. He has been fantastic for Erik ten Hag and has n’t cost them anything. We ca n’t help but think about Edinson Cavani’s 40-yard lob of Alphonse Areola against Fulham at Old Trafford ( 19659023 ), but he also scored four goals in the Europa League semifinal matches against Roma and the equalizer against Villarreal. He was n’t quite as quick as the PSG player who scored 200 goals in 300 games, but he still played like Cavani, running around the field erratically, making deft runs, and generally pissing off defenders. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a free player for PSG, scored 29 goals in his United career, one every 136 minutes better than Ronaldo, not including ( we are counting ) plus ten assists. Additionally, he scored two goals to win the League Cup last against Southampton and the Europa League. a fantastic acquisition. Read More Aboutfrom .
