Where will Paul Pogba rank among the biggest Manchester United flops?
- Michael Graham
- 1 June 2022
Manchester United have confirmed Paul Pogba's departure this summer, and his legacy will not be a good one.
The club have confirmed Pogba's exit from the club but their statement may have made it sound as if he was a success.
The statement said: "Everyone at the club would like to congratulate Paul on his successful career, and thank him for his contributions to Manchester United. We wish him all the best for the next steps on a remarkable journey."
There is no question, however, that he will leave the club remembered as a huge disappointment. But where will he compare to other Man Utd flops? Let's take a look - in descending order.
Zoran Tosic
Fee: £8m, 2009
When you're one of the richest clubs in the world, you can afford to take a few expensive risks on young foreign players.
Tosic was a painful lesson in how easily things can go very wrong, though.
The Serbian winger had just turned 22 when he was signed for £8m, which was far from an inconsiderable sum in 2009.
However, it was very obvious, very quickly that he was not close to the required level and his Manchester United career amounted to 79 minutes spread across five wholly uninspiring appearances from the bench.
Owen Hargreaves
Fee: £17m, 2007
In fairness to Man Utd, signing Hargreaves looked like an absolute no-brainer back in 2007.
The only question mark was that he was just back from a broken leg, but he had been that good for Bayern Munich and England that there was little reason to expect it to turn out how it did.
Hargreaves had a good first season at Old Trafford and was part of their successful Champions League winning side in 2008. After that final, though, he would only play another five times for the Red Devils.
That was due to serious injuries in both of his knees. He was released and, after one appearance for Manchester City, retired at the age of just 31.
Diego Forlan
Fee: £6.9m, 2002
Manchester United have had some great strikers this century and Diego Forlan is definitely among them. Problem is, he just wasn't great for them.
The Uruguayan got his big break in Europe when Sir Alex Ferguson signed him from Argentinian side Independiente. He had been prolific there, scoring at a rate of a goal every two games. After he left Man Utd, Forlan was prolific at Villarreal and Atletico Madrid too, scoring at a rate of a goal every two games there too.
It just never happened for him at Man Utd, though, where he could muster just 10 Premier League goals in two-and-a-half-years.
Memphis Depay
Fee: £25m, 2015
Depay had been likened to Cristiano Ronaldo by his youth coaches at PSV, and that is not a kind burden to give to any young player.
The Dutchman had made a huge impression in the Eredivise though and was a player Louis van Gaal really wanted at Manchester United.
To give Depay his due, he laboured to make it work at Old Trafford, but after 18 months he was moved on to Lyon.
He has since done well to rebuild his career and become a star for both the Netherlands and Barcelona.
Kleberson
Fee: £6.5m, 2003
In 2002, Kleberson was an emerging player with an odd problem. At the age of 23, he had established himself in Brazil and impressed at the World Cup, helping Seleção Canarinho to win the World Cup.
As you'd expect, there was a lot of interest in him from Europe, with Leeds showing the first serious interest. However, his girlfriend at the time was just 15 years old, and he refused to move until she was eligible to marry him.
That allowed Manchester United to pinch him instead, although they probably wish they hadn't bothered. He managed just 30 games in two seasons.
For such a coveted player who a Brazil coach had described as the 'driving force' behind a World Cup-winning squad, that was a major disappointment.
Angel Di Maria
Fee: £59.7m, 2014
It's fair to say that Manchester United do not have the best record when it comes to paying British-record transfer fees for stylish Argentinians. More of that later.
Di Maria was signed from Real Madrid and tasked with adding some pace and dynamism to the Man Utd midfield. Initially, he did that.
His creativity was ultimately stifled by the overly pragmatic methods of Louis van Gaal, and he only lasted a single season at Old Trafford before he engineered his move away from the club in 2015.
Harry Maguire
Fee: £80m, 2019
Harry Maguire is a player who definitely splits opinion. Depending on who you ask, he's a quality player afflicted by a failing club around him, or the worst player to ever put on a football shirt.
The truth is somewhere in between, but one thing I think we can all agree upon is that Manchester United massively overpaid for Harry Maguire and haven't had anything like their money's worth out him.
When Man Utd signed him they made him the most expensive defender in football history and, while he has been good for them, he has not been elite. Then again, he never really looked like he should have been.
Maguire has to go down as a Manchester United flop, and a major one at that, but it's not really his fault. He is what he has always been. It was the club who increased the expectations on him to a level to which he was never going to be able to aspire.
Juan Sebastian Veron
Fee: £28.1m, 2001
When Veron signed for Manchester United it appeared to be a genuine coup for the Premier League.
The Argentinian had established himself as one of the best central midfield players in the world and had starred in Serie A. Sir Alex Ferguson had to part with a British-record fee to get him, but it looked like a Rolls Royce of a signing that could not fail.
That was far from the case, though. It turned out that Veron was ideally suited to the slower pace of Serie A, but not able to adjust to the quicker matches in England.
After two years he left without ever showing the player he was capable of being.
Paul Pogba
Fee: £89m, 2016
There wasn't
that much between the fees for Harry Maguire and Paul Pogba, but there was one major difference: Maguire never had the talent to justify his, but Pogba certainly did.
When Pogba signed for Man Utd he was producing sublime football for Juventus and looked like a homerun from a commercial point of view. It hasn't worked out, though.
He has been accused of hiding during games and being passive to the point of inaction, and yet every time he has pulled on a France shirt during that time he as looked every inch the player he was at Juventus.
Pogba will be remembered as a player who cost a world record fee at the very height of his powers, delivered no Premier League titles (or even got them close to one), and walked out on the club not once but twice.
