Manchester United: 5 worst signings of all time
The Red Devils of Manchester are one of the most successful clubs of all time. Icons of the game like Ronaldo and Rooney were spotted early on by United and created history at the Theatre of Dreams. However, the sailing has not been great for some. Here are 5 such transfers that failed miserably at Manchester United.
Angel Di Maria signed for United after a successful stint with Real Madrid. The 2014 Champions League winner was signed for a then-British record fee of £59.7 million from Los Blancos. After making only 20 starts for United and Louis van Gaal moving him all around the pitch, Di Maria could not perform at United. He was sold to PSG in 2015.
Juan Sebastian Veron was an important player for the Argentine national squad during his heydays, and his performances at Parma made Sir Alex want to bring him under his wing. But the defensive mid-fielder was not able to replicate his form in the EPL. Being unable to form partnerships with Ferdinand and Scholes, Veron was sold off to Chelsea.
With Juan Sebastian Veron flopping with the first team, United sold him and wanted to replace him with another superstar. The club decided to sign World Cup-winning Brazilian central mid-fielder Kleberson. Notably, Kleberson was quite unsuccessful as well and did not fulfill United's needs. He was signed on the same day ManU picked up CR7.
PSV Eindhoven's Dutch international Memphis Depay was bought by United in 2015 for £25 million. Handed the iconic Manchester United number 7 jersey, a lot of expectations were building around him, but he failed to live up to any. In his 18-month stay at Old Trafford, he started 16 league games, twice finding the back of the net, and was offloaded to Lyon.
Sir Alex was looking for a replacement of Roy Keane and signed Djemba-Djemba from Nantes to fill the shoes of the United legend. 'He's so good they named him twice,' was the catchphrase surrounding him at Old Trafford but he ended up spending most of the time on the bench. Djemba-Djemba now plays for an Indonesian club called Persebaya Surabaya.
