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A disaster: United lost 800 million on players in post-Fergie era

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Reading Time: 6min | Fri. 12.09.25. | 15:15

And the number will surely rise when players like Sancho, Casemiro and Onana leave the club permanently

Two years ago, he was a Champions League finalist and, despite the defeat, one of the standout performers. As of last night, Andre Onana is officially in Trabzon. And although the Black Sea club does not have the option to buy him permanently, the move to a team that finished seventh in the domestic Super League last season is just another confirmation that after Manchester United there is no “up,” only “down.” Old Trafford has become the starting point from which countless careers in recent years have gone downhill — yet another example of the terrible business practices of the fallen English giant, unable in most cases even to recoup its investments.

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United have not (yet) recorded a loss on Onana, but considering the way the 29-year-old has performed over the past two seasons, it’s clear that when the inevitable parting comes, the Cameroonian will struggle to find a club willing to pay even a third of the 50,000,000 euros. United spent to bring him from Inter. All signs suggest that the La Masia graduate will suffer the same fate as his former teammate Antony.

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Brought in from Ajax a year before Onana as the club’s second-most expensive signing ever (95,000,000), the Brazilian left the Theatre of Dreams permanently this August for more than four times less. And although Betis committed to paying United 22,000,000 plus 50 percent of any future profit from a resale, it is unlikely Antony will ever significantly reduce the loss his departure left in United’s accounts. And examples like this have been plentiful in recent years, especially since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down.

When 120 million worth attackers cannot score from the penalty spot

The numbers are brutal: on players signed in the post-Ferguson era who have since left the club, the three-time European champion has recorded a loss of over 800,000,000 euros! Since the legendary Scottish manager delivered United’s last league title and left 12 years ago, the club has signed 29 players — and only made a profit on one. If you were asked to guess, you probably never would — because it was Daniel James. The winger spent just two seasons at United and, though his stats were far from spectacular, he still managed to bring in a profit of just over 11,000,000. All the others left behind massive financial holes the struggling giant is still grappling with.

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From the most expensive signing in club history, Paul Pogba, to Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Raphael Varane… all of them cost tens of millions of euros but two, three, or five years later contributed not a single cent back into the club’s coffers. True, over the past decade there have been some lucrative outgoing transfers, such as Romelu Lukaku, Angel Di María, or Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but even in those cases United still failed to make a profit. A worrying sign, given that the club, due to financial constraints, is forced to sell players in order to reinvest in reinforcements. This transfer window showed just how difficult it is for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s vision to be realized. The only profit came from selling “their own child,” Alejandro Garnacho (46,200,000), while Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, like Onana, were only temporarily offloaded — on loan to Barcelona and Aston Villa, respectively.

‘We are the worst team since I arrived to Manchester’

There are many factors that contribute to this: how much time a player has left on his contract at the moment of departure, the enormous wages United pay to average players (often unaffordable for clubs in better financial shape), and the player’s age. But one fact remains — United simply don’t know how to sell. They even let go of Anthony Elanga and Alvaro Carreras too easily, only for Nottingham Forest and Benfica to cash in multiples shortly thereafter.

Guess who is the second-most valued club in the world

Another reason for United’s dreadful negotiating record is how the club handles players sidelined by the manager. This year, Ruben Amorim spent weeks publicly stating that he did not count on Rashford or Garnacho. Naturally, clubs interested in such players, aware of United’s desperation to offload them, simply waited until the last moment, forcing the Manchester side into a corner. That’s exactly what happened with Antony, who after his resurgence on loan at Betis made it clear he did not want to return to Old Trafford, pushing the club to release him at any cost. And he is not the only one. United are set to record another loss on Rasmus Hojlund, who Napoli will be obliged to buy next June for 44,000,000 if they qualify for the Champions League. Remember, he was signed from Atalanta two summers ago for 77,800,000 euros. And the impression is that things will only get worse, because the list of 29 players doesn’t even include Casemiro, Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot, nor the likes of Jadon Sancho, Andre Onana, Mason Mount, Lisandro Martínez, Tyrell Malacia, or Joshua Zirkzee — all of whom have seen their market values drop significantly since joining.

PLAYERS UNITED BOUGHT AND SOLD IN THE POST-FERGUSON ERA

Name (club from which they arrived, fee) – (club to which they went, fee)

Juan Mata (Chelsea, €44.73m) – (Galatasaray, free)

Marouane Fellaini (Everton, €32.4m) – (Shandong, €7.2m)

Angel Di María (Real Madrid, €75m) – (PSG, €63m)

Vanja Milinković Savić (Vojvodina, €1.75m) – (Lechia Gdańsk, free)

Ander Herrera (Bilbao, €36m) – (PSG, free)

Marcos Rojo (Sporting, €20m) – (Boca Juniors, free)

Daley Blind (Ajax, €17.5m) – (Ajax, €16m)

Anthony Martial (Monaco, €60m) – (AEK, free)

Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton, €35m) – (Everton, €23m)

Memphis Depay (PSV, €34m) – (Lyon, €16m)