in second place.   ,
During Sir Alex Fergusons reign, it used to be said that the only way was down after Manchester United. Which was probably the case therefore. What about since Ferguson left?
Here is how we ranked those who left United after they left Old Trafford in the post-Fergie times.
Only those who made 10 Premier League starts for the Red Devils and left on permanent deals are included, otherwise we would be here all day. Unfortunately, Antony and Jadon Sancho will have to rush.
53 ) Raphael Varane ( Como )
Just an absolutely gutting end for a wonderful player. Always having the best of an amazing defender who arrived in Manchester with apparently plenty of room to give wasn’t even United’s problem. His next act as a United person was to raise the FA Cup before signing for Geneva, where however just 31 he suffered a career-ending hip injury in the first quarter of his first fit for the team against Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia. After the Old Lady signed the France star for a second time last summer, his wasted years at Old Trafford finally came to an end with this summer,[19659007
 ,Paul Pogba ( Juventus )
Pogba and Juve were full of themselves. Not so arrogant then, though, with Pogba having brought nothing but pain up to Turin. After a reciprocal agreement to end his agreement, he spent the majority of his second stint in Italy out on his ears. You began playing again in March, and there are, of training, playful suggestions that his United, Juve, United, Juve job may continue on that accepted trajectory. Without a doubt, it shouldn’t.
READ MORE: Everything Pogba and Raiola said about leaving Man Utd
51 )  , Jesse Lingard ( Nottingham Forest )
Went to Forest on a one-year deal on the assumption hed tear it up and spark a clamour for his signature this summer. There was no harm to him. Is now in Korea. Perhaps he enjoys reversing his flavor it.
50 )  , Adnan Januzaj ( Real Sociedad )
The one-time wonderkid, Ryan Giggs supposed heir, has bobbled around Europe, playing in Germany, Spain, Turkey and Sunderland. Sevilla is currently on loan at Las Palmas, but he won’t be completely until the summer of 2026. Is then 30, which makes perfect sense if one considers the normal passage of time but no feeling either to our mind which today feels very, very ancient indeed. Anderson ( Internacional )
49 ) Anderson ( Internacional )
After working at Old Trafford for more than seven years, Anderson made a second Anderson made his first appearance in Brazil with Internacional in 2015. He missed a sentence in his first match and, in his subsequent in La Paz, he was subbed on 36 hours and needed oxygen due to the level. Before a short spell in Turkey caused the forwards ‘ retirement at the age of 32, he likewise collected two red accounts in 50 complete looks.
48 )  , Rio Ferdinand ( QPR )
After 12 years at Old Trafford, Ferdinand signed for QPR where he managed only 12 appearances in a miserable season that ended the clubs stay in the Premier League and the players career.
47 ) Nemanja Vidic ( Inter Milan )
Vidic and his partner Rio Ferdinand both faced similar difficulties when they both left Old Trafford. He conceded a sentence and was sent off on his comeback for Inter and things got much better during a year and half in Milan before the Serbia keeper retired when his commitment was cancelled by common consent in 2016. Donny van de Beek ( Girona )
46 ) Donny van de Beek ( Girona ) ]Neither the first nor the last player to achieve that great big move after breaking through with his first club and then watching horrified as it all goes horribly wrong. Now picking up the pieces at Girona, where he has as many yellow cards as he does goals and assists for a club struggling to nobody’s great surprise to match last years exploits.
45 ) Eric Bailly ( Besiktas )
Played just eight games for Besiktas before being cast into the wilderness for being a bit rubbish. He returned to Villarreal, from whom he had originally joined United in the first place many years ago, after his contract expired a few weeks later.
44 )  , Morgan Schneiderlin ( Everton )
Never rediscovered the form that got him his move to United in the first place. When Everton, for some reason, offered them the majority of their money back, which turned out to be another poor decision by the Toffees, the Red Devils were appreciative. Since Everton, Schneiderlin has played for Nice and Western Sydney Wanderers, before leaving Konyaspor just nine days after signing in summer 2023. Following a monthlong tour of Greece with A. E. Kifisia, the band retired after one season.
43 )  , Anders Lindegaard ( West Brom )
The stand-in stopper never played another Premier League game, despite joining West Brom. Lindegaard spent the first half of his career at The Hawthorns before spending two seasons playing in Burnley’s shadows. Got his gloves dirty again while finishing his career with Helsingborg.[19659028
Had his nose dislocated by Ronaldo’s return and sought refuge in Valencia. After a rough year in Spain where he scored five goals, he was off again, at great personal expense, to sign for Boca Juniors.
41 ) Paddy McNair ( Sunderland )
Very much at home in the Championship, first with Sunderland and then with Boro, before joining San Diego FC Stateside and then returning on loan at a deeply Sky Bet club in West Brom.
40 )  , Tom Cleverley ( Everton )
The 13-cap England midfielder struggled at Everton doesnt everyone before finding his home at Watford. Only once in five seasons did Clearley only play more than half of his Hornets Premier League games, with the Championship game being his most productive game of the year 2020/21.
39 ) Nani ( Fenerbahce )
Joined Fenerbahce at the same time as Robin van Persie but lasted only a season setting off to travel the world, taking in Spain ( Valencia ), Italy ( Lazio and Venezia ), Portugal ( Sporting ), USA ( Orlando City ) and Australia ( Melbourne Victory ). That’s not to be ashamed.[42]38 )  , Marcos Rojo ( Boca Juniors )
Mad Marcos eventually left in 2021 having not made a single appearance since December 2019. moved to Argentina where his particular style of defense is more effective, but injuries have prevented him once more.
37 )  , Bastian Schweinsteiger ( Chicago Fire )
A quick check reveals that Schweinsteiger played more games and spent longer with Chicago Fire than we first thought. However, during his time at United, the former Bayern Munich captain stopped being a serious footballer.
36 ) Fred ( Fenerbahce )
Has proved a key player for Fenerbahce since making the move from United back in 2023. The Brazilian is probably at his level without being snide.
35 )  , Marouane Fellaini ( Shandong Luneng )
Stuck it out for five years in China when almost everyone else gave it up as a bad job. The big-haired Belgian, who retired almost exactly one year ago, has some strangely admirable things to offer.[52]34 )  , Shinji Kagawa ( Borussia Dortmund )
Shinji was freed in 2014 when he returned to Dortmund, where he was much more at home, for four seasons. After that, it traveled to Turkey ( Besiktas ), Spain ( Real Zaragoza ), Greece ( PAOK ), and Belgium ( Sint-Truiden ), before taking Cerezo Osaka back home.
33 )  , Robin van Persie ( Fenerbahce )
Took off for Turkey with Nani and spent three seasons at Fenerbahce before winding down with a season and a half back where it all began for Van Persie at Feyenoord.
32 ) Rafael ( Lyon )
Possibly sold too quickly, with Lyon benefiting from United’s cynicism. After five seasons in France, the better Da Silva twin had a season with Istanbul Basaksehir before returning to Brazil with Botafogo. David De Gea ( Fiorentina, eventually )
spent bloody years trying to find a new club, but he eventually found one after spending the entire 2023/24 season clubless. He has even learned how to save penalties.
30 )  , Daniel James ( Leeds United )
Finally got his move to Leeds United, and subsequently Fulham on loan where James struggled. He appears to have added an end product to everything at once while he is back at Leeds, playing frequently in the Championship, and will undoubtedly have a second chance to demonstrate his Premier League prowess next year.
29 ) Memphis Depay ( Lyon )
The fear was Depay would eventually prove United wrong but though he did great for Lyon, okay for Barcelona, and hes playing well for Atletico, there are few regrets about selling the Dutchman.[19659056[28]Javier Hernandez ( Bayer Leverkusen )
A fruitful spell at Bayer Leverkusen earned the Mexican a Premier League resumption after West Ham became their record signing, which was somewhat less fruitful. Worse still was a half-season stint at Sevilla before LA Galaxy made him the highest-paid player in MLS in January 2020. Antonio Valencia ( LDU Quito )
The former United captain was easing into retirement with his 2019 return to Ecuador after leaving Old Trafford in 2019. Still he squeezed in a Copa Ecuador triumph and a quick stint in Mexico before hanging up his boots. Ronaldo became even richer after falling in love with the Saudis
26. Hes scoring lots of goals and so forth there, and good luck to him, but its all rather undignified.
25 ) Alex Telles ( Al-Nassr )
Received payment, which is all that really matters. Now back in Brazil with Botafogo.[19659064
Wayne Rooney ( Everton )
gotten his wish to return to Everton after playing an underwhelming season before leaving for Washington to pursue some ridiculous goals. Squeezed in a quick, weird stint at Derby before the boots went back on the peg and he focused on management. Let’s not go into too much detail about how that is going.
23 ) Dean Henderson ( Crystal Palace )
Seemed to have swapped Uniteds bench for Palaces when he first rocked up at Selhurst Park, which was an odd decision, but has now at least established himself as a Premier League first-choice and got back in the England reckoning.
22 ) Romelu Lukaku ( Inter Milan )
It’s been difficult to keep up with Lukaku since he left United in 2019. He was brilliant for Inter, awful for Chelsea, meh for Inter again, decent enough at Roma, and last but not least now on track for another Serie A title, this time with Napoli. Overall, decent, right? But, and we cant stress this enough, not when he had another crack at the Barclays. That was completely unimpressive.
21 ) Axel Tuanzebe ( Ipswich )
Once earmarked as a future captain but failed to make the breakthrough, though injuries didnt help. Before joining the list of bizarre footballers injuries when somehow managed to almost lose a thumb while washing the dishes, helped Ipswich advance and earned himself a contract extension in the process.
20 ) Aaron Wan-Bissaka ( West Ham )
Playing lots of football for West Ham anyway. Whether you think that is beneficial or detrimental depends on you.
19 ) Nemanja Matic ( Roma )
Reunited again with Jose Mourinho upon leaving United as a free agent and established himself as a key player, making 50 appearances for the Europa League finalists. but eventually got angry with Mourinho and left Rennes and now Lyon for France.
18 )  , Juan Mata ( Galatasaray )
Lovely Juan went to Turkey, had a lovely year in Istanbul where he won a title, and moved on to Japan which wasnt quite as lovely because he only played one game for Vissel Kobe but in a lovely move that was still enough to get him a lovely J1 League winners medal despite making a lovely move to Australia and Western Sydney Warriors. Beautiful.
17 )  , Danny Welbeck ( Arsenal )
The England striker was sold to Arsenal in 2014 and he spent five injury-plagued years at the Emirates, in which time he was more popular than useful. After that, we had forgotten about the spell that Brighton had performed on Watford before he arrived and performed their magic on him. He has now done there what he couldnt at either United or Arsenal: reach 100 Premier League appearances. That’s nice, then.
16 )  , Alexis Sanchez ( Inter Milan )
A disaster of a signing for United, but Sanchez fared better at Inter, winning a Serie A title and Coppa Italia scoring 20 goals in 109 appearances before heading off to Marseille. He also netted 18 goals in France before moving on to Inter and now Udinese.
15 ) Henrikh Mkhitaryan ( Arsenal )
The Armenian fared little better at Arsenal than he did at United. From the Emirates, it was on to Italy, where Mkhitaryan has sounded much more at ease, first with Roma, then Inter, where he continues to play a key role for the Nerazzurri.
14 )  , Darren Fletcher ( West Brom )
The Scotland midfielder fought back from ulcerative colitis to become West Brom captain and play a part in every Premier League game over two seasons up to 2017 when he joined Stoke where he completed a run of 100 consecutive league starts. Before being replaced by Jason Wilcox, he left United as a coach and transitioned to the technical director role.
13 )  , Andreas Pereira ( Fulham )
The Brazilian Cleverley is proving to be much more than that at Fulham, pulling strings for the Cottagers and thriving in the trust of Marco Silva.[19659088[12]Matteo Darmian ( Parma ),
A good first month ended up being the best it had ever been. A switch to Parma saw Darmian re-establish his credentials in Serie A before Inter came for him in 2020 and hes been a regular there ever since. Should not have been allowed to leave United, starting with West Brom and then Leicester, where he won an FA Cup.[19659091[11]Now, to the surprise of all, back at Old Trafford. He is adamant about United and a testament to his prominence. Weird. Given the ponderous and fragile midfield play of United for so much of this season, there are a lot of sellers remorse. Impossible to avoid the idea that Ruben Amorim would have at least made decent use of McTominays ability to get up and down the pitch, given how important midfielders who could do that were to his Sporting team and how conspicuous their absence has been in his United struggles. Meanwhile, McTominay and Napoli may share a potential Serie A title.
Oh is Scott McTominay enjoying it in Naples! The Scotsman header puts Napoli 1-0 up
[tntsports&@discoveryplusUKpictwittercom/oUzzr8wQ8RFootball on TNT Sports ( @footballontnt ) February 9, 2025
9 )  , Patrice Evra ( Juventus )
Evra says he left United because his then-wife found it difficult to live in Manchester so it was off to Turin where the left-back won two Serie A and Coppa Italia doubles while reaching the 2015 Champions League final. He kicked a fan in the head during his year at Marseille before making a brief, forgettable appearance at West Ham. Still, Juventus was good, wasnt it? It was anticipated that Ashley Young would leave United and pursue a career in Serie A, becoming only the third Englishman to do so.[1961100]8 )
Returned to Aston Villa as a 36-year-old in 2021 and still plugging away for Everton aged 39 having apparently decided to turn his whole career into a one-man fight against nominative determinism. You don’t have to like it, you can’t praise any aspect of it, but you can’t deny that his 21 Ligue 1 goals made his move to Marseille successful.
6 )  , Daley Blind ( Ajax )
Returned to Ajax for four years, captaining the side, adding three more Eredivisie titles to the four he already had, prior to a half-season stint at Bayern Munich, winning a Bundesliga title there. currently residing in Catalonia while working in the Girona community. Not a bad life, is it? When everyone else ignored him,
5 ) Anthony Elanga ( Nottingham Forest )
listened to Ralf Rangnick and made his breakthrough at United. Always likely to be squeezed out when United got serious but has become an increasingly significant figure in Forests unlikely Champions League tilt this year. He is regularly playing for a team that currently leads United by 10 points and 18 places. Cant be considered anything but a success, really. Zlatan Ibrahimovi ( Los Angeles Galaxy )
4 )
4 )
The media assumed that Ibra was entering retirement but not Zlatan. He scored a ridiculous 56 goals in 52 appearances for LA Galaxy before returning to Italy for four seasons, and winning another Serie A title, before finally calling time on one of the great careers. One of Ed Woodward’s best achievements was probably Angel Di Mara ( Paris Saint-Germain )
3 )
Getting the majority of United’s money back for Di Maria. The Argentinian flop was much more at home in Paris, playing seven seasons at PSG, winning six Ligue 1 titles. After spending a year with Juventus, he is now at Benfica.
2 )  , Ander Herrera ( Paris Saint-Germain )
Joined PSG for free with a hefty pay-rise in 2019 after which Herrera made 95 appearances, winning two Ligue 1 titles, two Coupes de France, one Coupe de la Ligue and two Trophees des Champions. The midfielder expresses regrets about leaving Old Trafford, but he made the most of it before making a three-year-long hiatus at his hometown club Athletic Bilbao before making a January transfer to Boca Juniors, which can only be enjoyable.
1 )  , Chris Smalling ( Roma )
Smallings decline at Old Trafford was odd he was outstanding for Louis van Gaal so it was no great surprise to see him thrive when he went to Roma. Loved Italian life, but sadly, he now finds himself in the Saudi Pro League, where he turned his debut into a dirty protest by failing to score an own goal and falling to 5-0.
READ MORE: Every Man Utd signing post-Sir Alex ranked: Alexis, Antony in bottom two, Solskjaer buy top
