Five Best Manchester United January Signings in Recent History

With the January transfer window now shut, Manchester United can look back on the modestly successful business that they conducted. While it wasn’t the most exciting of windows, United were still able to bring some strong players on board, such as Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer.

There have been times when January windows have resulted in United acquiring superstars – here’s a look at the five best players that United have signed during a winter window.

Andy Cole

Nomadic striker Andy Cole is first on the list – one of the Premier League’s best natural goal scorers, he formed a famously strong partnership with Dwight Yorke.

Across his eclectic career, Cole spent more time at Manchester United than any other club. In that time, he scored 93 goals in 195 Premier League games.

Outside of United, Cole also played for teams such as Newcastle, Manchester City and Arsenal.

Juan Mata

Juan Mata’s arrival at Manchester United may have coincided with a dark time for the club – nevertheless, the Spaniard provided a ray of hope amongst the constant gloom that was the mid-2010s.

Excellent with the ball at his feet, Mata perhaps would have benefitted from playing under a more expansive coach, rather than the defensive minded managers of David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho (someone who Mata could seemingly not escape).

Regardless, Mata’s time at United was a successful period for him. In total, he scored 34 goals (one of which was an overhead kick against Liverpool) in 196 Premier League games.

Bruno Fernandes

The most recent signing on the list and the only one who is still an active Manchester United player, Bruno Fernandes has been sensational since his arrival at Old Trafford.

The Portuguese star is an adept goalscorer and is equally brilliant at fashioning chances for his teammates. Currently, he’s made 106 appearances for United, in which he has scored 40 goals.

Fernandes has also earned something of a penchant for penalty taking. Across his career, he’s taken 49, failing to convert just five of them.

Patrice Evra

One of the best fullbacks in the history of the Premier League, Evra didn’t look to be destined for success upon his arrival in Manchester. His debut was a poor one that saw him substituted at half time, with manager Alex Ferguson singling him out in his post match interview for criticism.

Despite this slow start, Evra pressed on and became a United legend. The club won an abundance of silverware while he was a Red Devils player, including multiple league titles and the Champions League.

In total, Evra made 273 appearances for United – he was also given 81 caps for his native France.

Nemanja Vidić

Who else could top this list? Nemanja Vidic is one of greatest and most feared defenders to have ever graced the Premier League.

He joined the Red Devils in 2006, going on to make 211 appearances for the club. During his United stint, they won five Premier Leagues, three League Cups and a Champions League (beating Chelsea in the final).

It wasn’t just his defensive ability that earned Vidic so many plaudits. He was a brilliant captain, too – after Roy Keane’s retirement, United lacked leadership on the pitch somewhat – but Vidic changed that.