United’s Five Worst Midfield Signings Of The Decade

After taking you through the five worst defender signings of the past ten years, this week we’ll be looking at some of the mistakes United have made in recruiting midfielders over the last decade.

There are a lot of candidates to choose from sadly, with the club’s recruitment having shelled out millions on players who simply never made the grade at Old Trafford.

Quite a few of these players seemed like they were almost guaranteed to be successful purchases but it didn’t quite turn out that way.

Press the “next page” as we name five United midfielders who turned out to be flops.

Angel Di Maria

A bit of strange one this. The Argentine was very successful at Real Madrid and has continued to have a good career at Paris Saint-Germain after he left at Old Trafford.

However, after joining United for £59.7m in 2014, Di Maria never really settled in England, scoring just four goals in 32 appearances for the Red Devils. He may not have been the worst purchase, but the disappointment was larger as a lot more was expected of him following such a substantial transfer fee.

Bastian Schweinsteiger

In hindsight, the German’s legs had gone even before he had arrived at Old Trafford. Having worked under Louis van Gaal at Bayern, though, the Dutchman was keen to work with the World Cup winner once again.

Schweinsteiger struggled with fitness problems and played 35 games before being eventually shipped off to MLS side Chicago Fire after 21 months at Old Trafford.

Morgan Schneiderlin

The Frenchman was excellent when playing for Southampton so it wasn’t a surprise when the Red Devils paid £25m for the player in July 2015.

It soon became clear, though, that Schneiderlin was simply not cut out to play for such a big club, and after struggling for first-team opportunities, he was sold to Everton for a loss.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

The Armenian international had been scoring goals for fun at Borussia Dortmund, but his lack of match action following his £30m arrival indicated that manager Jose Mourinho was far from convinced about his ability.

Mkhitaryan was then used in a straight swap deal for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez just eighteen months after joining United. He is currently plying his trade at Roma after failing to make his mark with the Gunners.

Bebe

One of Sir Alex Ferguson’s rare transfer mistakes, the Portuguese joined from Vitoria Guimaraes for £7.4m in 2010. He did make seven appearances for the Red Devils (scoring two goals), but he spent most of his time out on loan before eventually leaving for Benfica in 2014.

The winger is currently playing for Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish second division, although most of his career has been with clubs in La Liga.

You may also be interested in reading:

5 Things Manchester United Must Get Right If They Are To Win Against Chelsea
United’s Five Worst Defender Signings Of The Decade
Four Forwards Who Have Been Linked With United Ahead Of Deadline Day
5 Strikers That United Could Sign On Loan After Rashford’s Injury
Four Creative Midfield Players Who United Should Be Targeting In January
Five Alternatives To Erling Haaland That United Could Consider In January
Which Of The 5 Biggest Targets Linked To Manchester United Will The Club Splash The Cash To Sign?

Or

You can visit our blog home page to read more news about Manchester United here