Near to the end of the 2012-13 season, legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson shocked the football world and ended his tenure as the Manchester United boss. SAF signed off by notching yet another title win – his 13th Premier League title with United. He also won 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups and 2 Champions League wins plus a whole host of other various trophies.

When SAF left United, he wanted to leave the team in pretty good shape for his successor David Moyes and he felt he had as did most others. Three men have managed United since SAF retired and here we take an overview of these managers’ tenures at the United helm and analyze their transfer activity as we select the best starting eleven from the players who have been sold or released by Manchester United by any of the three United managers since Sir Alex.

David Moyes
It was always going to be difficult following in the footsteps of such a club icon as Sir Alex but David Moyes perhaps missed a trick by bringing a new back room team with him and while there was a familiar face or two (Phil Neville) there is no doubt that Moyes would have been better served to keep the likes of René Meulensteen and co. in place to try to maintain the basics around the team coaching wise. As we know with the poor work in the transfer window where only Marouane Fellaini was added in the summer, very quickly it became apparent that the team was not good enough in the hands of David Moyes Unfortunately, despite solid support from the fans and from the board David Moyes with the exception of decent run in the Champions League was unable to maintain the level that SAF was used to keeping the team performing at. Hence Moyes was let go with 4 games to go in the 2013-14 season and Ryan Giggs finished the season as interim manager. When it came to the transfer market David Moyes was relatively inactive in regards to the first team.

In Moyes’ almost one season in charge of the team – the 2013-14 season the Scotsman signed 4 players (INS), sold 14 players (OUTS) and loaned out 29 players (LOUTS). For a total of 47 transactions.

Some of the more notable moves included the signings of Saidy Janko (Yes I have never heard of him either but he is a Swiss right-back who plays for Celtic recently), he also signed Guillermo Varela, Marouane Fellaine and Juan Mata; while players sold or released included Ryan Giggs (retired) and Fabio plus Jesse Lingard and Wilfrid Zaha were loaned out for a season.

Louis van Gaal
As we know Dutch legend Louis van Gaal was appointed Manchester United manager in the summer of 2014 at Old Trafford after guiding Holland to an impressive 3rd place finish in the 2014 World Cup. He managed Man United for two seasons, guiding them to a 4th place finish in his first season in charge. In his one appearance in the 2015-16 Champions League with United he ended up failing to get out of the group stage and guided the club to 5th place finish in the league and Europa League qualification which of course they duly won under Jose Mourinho. LVG’s final act with the club was an excellent FA Cup win – the 12th for United – as just 2 days later the club confirmed that the great Dutch manager had left the club by mutual consent. As we know his successor was appointed 2 days later.

Louis van Gaal was by far the busiest manager when it comes to transfer activity. van Gaal oversaw the most 1st team transfer activity during his 2 seasons in charge with 16 total signings and 28 sales not to mention all the loan activity like the massive deal that saw Falcao join United from Monaco in LVG’s first season. A summary of LVG’s transfer activity during his 2 year tenure reads like this:

– In the 2014-15 season Louis van Gaal signed 9 players (INS), sold 18 players (OUTS), signed 2 players on loan (LINS) and loaned out 19 players (LOUTS). For a total of 48 transactions.

Some of the more notable moves included the signings of Angel Di Maria, Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rojo plus the loan signing of Radamel Falcao while players sold or released included Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Danny Welbeck while Chicarito (Javier Hernandez) was loaned out for a season.

In the 2015-16 season Louis van Gaal signed 7 players (INS), sold 19 players (OUTS), signed 0 players on loan (LINS) and loaned out 15 players (LOUTS). For a total of 41 transactions.

Some of the more notable moves by Louis van Gaal in 2015-16 season included the signings of Anthony Martial, Memhis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin and Matteo Darmian while players sold or released included Angel Di Maria, Robin van Persie, Rafael and Chicarito (Javier Hernandez).

Jose Mourinho
The Portuguese manager was appointed as the Manchester United manager on May 27th succeeding Louis van Gaal who had left the position two days earlier. Jose Mourinho was a two time Champions League winner (with Porto and Inter Milan) and winner of top flight league titles in Portugal, Spain, Italy and England (2) when he signed a 3 year deal at Old Trafford. Jose had been relieved of his duties by Chelsea in the December of 2015 just 7 months after leading the Londoners to the Premier League title and United clearly felt it was an opportunity too good to pass up as the club made a move for the “Special One”. Louis van Gaal’s showed understanding of the situation as the Dutchman acted with totally unselfish professionalism. As we know Jose has delivered a Community Shield, a League Cup win, a Europa League win including Champions League qualification and a 6th place finish in the Premier League.

Some of the more notable moves by Jose Mourinho in the 2016-17 season included the signings of Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eric Bailly while players sold or released included Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Adnan Januzaj was loaned out for a season.

Looking over the players above and evaluating them reveals we are talking about some serious talent that Manchester United have sold and released. That being said clearly the club’s overall transfer record across the last 3 decades has been a staggering success since 1990 demonstrated by 13 Premier League titles, 5 FA Cups, 5 League Cups and 2 Champions Leagues.

So the big 5 players who have been sold by United either in their prime or still playing at the top level are the likes of Angel Di Maria – he is one of the true game changers in world football and by signing him United really needed to build the team around him and let his extraordinary talent shine but unfortunately Louis van Gall did not do this.

When it comes to transfers there are always those unknowns like will the player adjust to the English league, will he win over the fans and enjoy the experience as well adjusting to the new culture, and possibly learning a new language.

Manchester United are going through a slightly barren spell for a club such as themselves at the moment  – lets face it they have only won:  a Europa League, a Community Shield, a League Cup and an FA Cup since Sir Alex has left afterall.

Some think the club are rebuilding but these people are a bit wide of the mark – United are simply retooling a little as they go while still contending for honours.

To think that Manchester United have had Angel Di Maria, Nani, Alex Buttner, Anderson, Falcao, and others at the club since SAF retired shows you that the Old Trafford club is still one of the highest regarded teams by footballers and agents throughout the world and that the Theatre Of Dreams is still very much hallowed ground and a facility which young footballers all over the world are still dreaming of one day playing on the sacred turf at Old Trafford

So Here Is The Best 1-11 Of Players Man United Never Should Have Let Go Since Sir Alex Retired:

———————————Victor Valdes —————————-

—-Rafael—-Rio Ferdinand—-Nemanja Vidic—-Patrice Evra—-

———–Morgan Schneiderlin——Bastian Schweinsteiger——–

————Angel Di Maria——-Chicarito———-Nani————

—————————–Robin van Persie—————————-

If you don’t agree let us know your Best 1-11 Of Players Man United Never Should Have Let Go Since Sir Alex Retired in the comments below.