8 Errors: Paul Pogba would not be the first expensive mistake for Manchester United

Updated 25/03/2018 at 15:58 GMT+1

Speculation is rife that Manchester United will sell Paul Pogba this summer after falling out with Jose Mourinho, but he would not be the club's first high profile exit.

Paul Pogba sous le maillot de Manchester United lors de la saison 2017-2018 de Premier League.

Image credit: Getty Images

Manchester United have spent £612m in the last five seasons, and yet find themselves well adrift of Manchester City in the Premier League. Some may argue that City themselves have spent even more in the same period, around £781m. But City are well ahead of United not just in points, but with the talent at their disposal. Something has gone wrong with recruitment at Old Trafford, and Paul Pogba might be the latest mistake.

There is regular speculation that Pogba is the next big-money exit for United. He won’t be the first since the retirement of Alex Ferguson, but he would be the most conspicuous, and the most talented player that hasn’t been able to make a success of things, should he leave. Ed Woodward is the common theme running through all the transfer mistakes over the last five years - here are some of the worst errors signings so far:

Marouane Fellaini

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To be fair to Fellaini, he has won around plenty of fans since his arrival. Not necessarily because of his talent, but because he has weathered a huge amount of criticism and never hid from showing his face on the pitch or letting his head drop. He can be an effective, disruptive presence in the box, but that goes for his own penalty area as much as it does the opponent’s.

Marouane Fellaini sous le maillot de Manchester United lors de la saison 2017-2018.

Image credit: Getty Images

Fellaini, though, should not have been at the club. His former manager David Moyes left for United, and he was available for £23.5m should a bid have been lodged before July 31. Instead of wrapping up a simple deal, the club waited and waited as Cesc Fabregas weighed up his options before deciding to remain at Barcelona. When nobody appeared at the club before deadline day, a last minute dash to Merseyside saw the Belgium midfielder rock up for an inflated £27.5m fee.

Shinji Kagawa

Kagawa’s failure was probably the first victim of Moyes and Ed Woodward. Alex Ferguson brought him to United with the intention of combining Robin van Persie and Kagawa to replace the declining Wayne Rooney. The only problem was that an injury to Kagawa prevented a smooth integration, and goals were hard to come by. Nonetheless, he showed enough promise that Ferguson pushed Rooney to the exit with his last move, only for Woodward and Moyes to scramble to keep him away from Chelsea and give him a huge new deal.

Shinji Kagawa steht bei Manchester United auf dem Abstellgleis.

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Kagawa failed to rediscover his form, was insulted by Moyes - ‘Everyone tells me about Shinji's ability,' he said, rather than working out the obvious for himself - and couldn’t adapt to moving 20 yards from his usual position in a team that was imploding.

Radamel Falcao

Such was the reputation that Falcao held at the time that most people assumed the rumours were wrong - surely Falcao would be moving to newly rich Manchester City, rather than a calamitous United. However, United pulled off a late transfer deadline day shopping spree which also added Angel Di Maria (discussed later) and Daley Blind.

Manchester United's Radamel Falcao applauds fans as he is substituted

Image credit: Reuters

United fans adopted his usual chant, and wanted him to succeed. Instead, it became increasingly clear that he had not yet fully recovered from a serious knee injury that was exacerbated by a rushed attempt to feature in the 2014 World Cup. Four goals in 29 appearances meant he was sent back to Monaco before joining Chelsea for another disappointing loan spell, after which he finally found fitness back on the Mediterranean coast.

Angel Di Maria

The alarm bells should have been ringing from the moment Angel Di Maria opened his mouth in his first United press conference. Saying that he had always wanted a move to Manchester United, everyone knew that he had been angling for a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, and that he hadn’t really ever wanted to leave Real Madrid in the first place. Nonetheless, Woodward was the only man willing to write the cheque and that gave him little choice.

The optimism that died: Manchester United's Angel Di Maria laughs with manager Louis van Gaal. But those smiles did not last.

Image credit: Reuters

It soon became clear that Di Maria’s heart wasn’t in it, and he put in some of the most miserable and risible performances seen in the Van Gaal era, with only an exciting couple of showings against Leicester City and Liverpool, before withdrawing into a mixture of injury and sullenness. It might have been different had United been exciting on the pitch, but under Van Gaal that was moot, and Di Maria’s last contribution in a United shirt, leaving injured after what looked like a relatively painless tumble against Hull City, summed him up.

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Bastian Schweinsteiger arrived at United looking like he could be something of a bargain. On a zesty three-year contract, but for a fee of just £6.5m, it was a chance for Schweinsteiger to reunite with Van Gaal, the man who had converted him from a wide player to one of Europe’s best central midfielders.

Manchester United's Bastian Schweinsteiger after the game

Image credit: Reuters

The reason that he left Bayern was because Pep Guardiola could not rely on him to stay fit and contribute to his style of play. United, however, needed a replacement for Michael Carrick, a role that would require much less running and plenty of experience. In theory, it made sense, in practice, it was another disappointment. Injuries curtailed his involvement, and his lack of mobility - made worse by a worryingly heavy physique - meant his influence across the pitch was severely limited.

Wayne Rooney

The money wasted by Woodward has not just been on shiny and new, expensive players, but the wages given to players who should have been moved on long ago. Daley Blind’s wages mean that no transfer could be arranged in the most recent transfer window. United gave Luis Nani a five-year deal on such a salary that meant when he went to Sporting for a season as part of the deal for Marcos Rojo, the English club had to assume all of his wages. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are all on salaries that elsewhere would only be given to world class players.

Manchester United's English striker Wayne Rooney (R) celebrates with Manchester United's English midfielder Michael Carrick (L) after scoring the opening goal from the penalt spot during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United

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The worst example of this might be Rooney. A new deal to keep him away from Chelsea set his weekly wages at almost £300,000, one of the biggest deals in the world. Rooney’s wages were inversely correlated to his talent - the more he earned, the worse he was on the pitch, to the point where he was one of the most destructive players in the Premier League. While he has improved himself a little at Everton, United essentially played with 10 men for much of the last four years he was with the club, demonstrating how Woodward, Moyes and Van Gaal mismanaged the resources at Old Trafford to woefully underperform.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Shinji Kagawa Mk.II arrived as part of a batch of Mino Raiola’s clients rolled up along with Jose Mourinho. Perhaps he was a way to convince the agent to deliver Pogba, more likely he was a convenient way to add a speedy, incisive player to a sluggish United squad. Instantly, there were problems, as Mkhitaryan sat out most of the warmer months on the naughty step for some perceived slight, but when he was brought back his assists, counter-attacking and extraordinary strikes led people to believe he was United’s best signing of the summer. He was also part of the Europa League-winning side that earned them Champions League football.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan wechselt von Manchester United zum FC Arsenal

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In his second season, though, a bright start then way gave way to more of his old ways. Half the time it was hard to remember a single useful act on the pitch, and with Pogba injured he disappeared almost completely. Mourinho had enough, and decided a swap for Alexis Sanchez was no risk at all.

Luke Shaw

Spending £30m on a teenager is always exciting. Should it work, you are presumably getting a player who could fill a position in a team for a decade, perhaps longer. Economically promising for the beancounters, and for the fans it’s a chance to watch a player grow into a committed part of the club.

Luke Shaw was a player who United could have turned into their left-back for a generation. At Southampton, he had demonstrated a commitment to aggressive attacking play from deep, under Mauricio Pochettino, one of the best managers around. Chelsea were in for him, but somehow United got hold of him when Van Gaal signed off a deal that had been prepared by Moyes and Woodward, before the Scotsman got the sack.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho speaks with Luke Shaw

Image credit: Reuters

His first season saw him adjust to life at Old Trafford, suffering problems with fitness and discipline, but his second was a disaster, having his leg broken against PSV Eindhoven thanks to an atrocious tackle by Hector Moreno. A slow return to fitness is hard enough, but Pochettino, Roy Hodgson, Van Gaal and Mourinho have all hinted that there are various problems with fitness, discipline, following instructions and his weight. Other managers might be more accommodating, but it appears Mourinho has had enough, and Shaw can't claim he hasn’t had warnings under every manager he has had.

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