If I was arsed, I’d argue there was no way Fred was better than Herrera. An even worse signing who was supposed to be an “upgrade” who we spent over £50m on. But neither were really good so it’s not even worth the debate. In short, you win
Our 4 best transfers post Fergie and what we can learn from them
- Thread starter Scandi Red
- Start date
I don't think Fred was much of an upgrade, although I do consider him to be a better player for us. Think it's just the love-in for Mata and Herrera that irritates me, considering they were pretty average for us and no better than some players who were despised or seen as a bit of a laughing stock.If I was arsed, I’d argue there was no way Fred was better than Herrera. An even worse signing who was supposed to be an “upgrade” who we spent over £50m on. But neither were really good so it’s not even worth the debate. In short, you win
I kind of regret putting Herrera in the opening post because half the posts seem to be about him now
He's clearly not as good as the others I mentioned but at the same time he did win POTY once. And he's the probably the only player in the last 10 years who a reasonably high number of fans didn't want us to sell, which says a lot.
In terms of performances alone I would probably put Zlatan ahead of him, but I chose to not include him in my topic because this thread is about transfer policies. I don't think anyone in their right mind would want us to start signing 35 year olds just because Zlatan had one (not even that) good season.
My ranking would probably go like this:
1. Bruno
2. Shaw
3. Martinez (I'm aware that things can turn around)
4. Herrera
5. Zlatan (based on performances alone, not transfer policy)
Blind, Mata and Matic were OK. Varane and Casemiro are a bit hard to pin down because of injuries, suspensions and a pretty awful bottom level (Casemiro).
I can't be arsed to rate the rest. None of them have been a "net positive" for us. Or they haven't been here long enough to judge.
He's clearly not as good as the others I mentioned but at the same time he did win POTY once. And he's the probably the only player in the last 10 years who a reasonably high number of fans didn't want us to sell, which says a lot.
In terms of performances alone I would probably put Zlatan ahead of him, but I chose to not include him in my topic because this thread is about transfer policies. I don't think anyone in their right mind would want us to start signing 35 year olds just because Zlatan had one (not even that) good season.
My ranking would probably go like this:
1. Bruno
2. Shaw
3. Martinez (I'm aware that things can turn around)
4. Herrera
5. Zlatan (based on performances alone, not transfer policy)
Blind, Mata and Matic were OK. Varane and Casemiro are a bit hard to pin down because of injuries, suspensions and a pretty awful bottom level (Casemiro).
I can't be arsed to rate the rest. None of them have been a "net positive" for us. Or they haven't been here long enough to judge.
Last edited:
What's happened to Martinez? He was a bedrock of our improvement.
Mata was an awful signing. The opportunity cost of signing him was terrible, and he was a limited square peg in a round hole his entire time at United. He hung around and around and we just accepted it for no reason.
Mata in 14/15 was about as close as we've had to a top player being consistent. He wasn't what we'd hoped as I said, but if he's an awful signing then I can't even begin to think how we'd describe literally every other signing we've made in the last 10 years.
Shaw
Mata
Mata
Nonsense. Just jumping on the bandwagon. How is Antony worse than Di Maria, Sanchez, VdB, James, Darmian, Sancho, Telles?
Wan-Bissaka had 1 full season of PL football in a team where he barely had to touch the ball or leave his own 18 yard line. I don't think that counts as 'well-established' and at the time I think most considered it to be a risky buy.
I would argue only really Herrera & Bruno can be argued as a guaranteed success. Shaw has been so up and down at times, and his fitness is so unreliable. Martinez looks good but his injury record isn't great either.
Di Maria was brilliant for a period, then lost interest but we got our money back on him.
Agree on Donny.
James was rubbish but his record is better than Antony's and we made a profit on him.
Darmian was a squad player who cost 12m, and was alright.
Agree on Sancho.
Telles barely played, and we made about half of our money back. We'd never get half of Antonys fee back.
Zlatan pound for pound our best signing post Fergie for me. The knee injury was a travesty but honestly looking at what he did at LA Galaxy and then Milan, we should have let him recover fully and he'd have been a better option than Lukaku/ Martial for a good two/ three years.
Under the radar one but Matic was a solid signing and one of our best post-Fergie. 2nd in his first season here, went tits up under Jose in the next season but 6th, then obviously the 3rd and the 2nd under Ole before the final season catastrophe. But that span of 4 seasons of 2nd, 6th, 3rd, 2nd and a fair few cup semis and finals is the best we've been post Fergie
Under the radar one but Matic was a solid signing and one of our best post-Fergie. 2nd in his first season here, went tits up under Jose in the next season but 6th, then obviously the 3rd and the 2nd under Ole before the final season catastrophe. But that span of 4 seasons of 2nd, 6th, 3rd, 2nd and a fair few cup semis and finals is the best we've been post Fergie
These days I would kill for having a "flop" like Di Maria. 14 goal contributions in the Premier League in 27 games.
Then you have players like Antony who has done feck all in 25 games.
I don't remember Di Maria being good at all, in fact a quick search on him and was rated worst prem signing by one paper.
Making fees back or not is one thing, but I certainly don't think Antony is as bad as some of our previous signings. I didn't even include Schneiderlin.
His attitude sucked though, so I wouldn't. His record surprises me to be fair, because I remember him as a bad signing.
Last edited:
The Antony view is a combination of fee plus performances. On that basis he's as bad as Sanchez. But at least Alexis had delivered big time in the Premier league. Antony struggled to stand out in the Dutch league. Awful, awful signing. And all on ETH.
Good shout actually.
It would be a lot harder to name our four post Fegie worst signings, to be honest we've had some proper journeymen represent our football club lately.
We made most of our money back on Di Maria, so it's hard to make a case for him being a worse signing than Donny van den Beek for instance, who is about to leave for a few million quid.
Yea.
now to answer the OP question, for me I’ll go for:
1. Bruno - country mile and all that. One of the best deals in the PL in recent years. Goals, assists, attitude off the pitch, on the pitch. United have had several players with issues during these years, but four consequtive managers have looked at that dressing room and found Bruno Fernandez not only not a problem, but one of the best bets for a solution. And cheaper than Pogba, Lukaku, Maguire, Di Maria …
2. Alejandro Garnacho - the most likely way Garnacho is not going to turn us a huge profit, is that he stays at United well into his decline. And that is not enormously likely.
3. Juan Mata - what decides many a player’s legacy is memory, and at United that means we always remember two things: The start - when players come with huge expectations (cos we bought them) and is bound to disappoint. And the end - when players have declined, does not fit the team any more or have turned into a mental wreck from the United pressure. Juan Mata had a long spell with over 200 games were he was one of our most important and most watchable players, and he wasn’t even an ass!
4. Daley Blind - came on the cheap side, was a joy to watch, surprised positively and a good influence on the dressing room by all accounts. A shame he played for the wrong Dutchman from our perspective.
Honorable mentions to Luke Shaw (One of our best players for not enough time, and we must add to his price what it cost to have Rojo, Telles and Malacia breathe down his neck); Rojo/Telles/Malacia (for making Shaw good); Zlatan (what a gas until he went out of gas); Lindelöf (when I imagine the amount of games Phil Jones would have played injured without the Swede around, or Tuanzebe would have played nervous, Bailly insane, Mengi clueless, Maguire with broken confidence, Varane with ‘issues’ etc etc…); Cavani, Romero, Heaton (free and handy to have around).
a special nod to Pogba for getting Mourinho fired. He played a few very good games, but a player bought twice for record fees, leaving for free twice, that’s just totally awesome in this light, unbeatable really.
Sometimes I think I'm in an alternate dimension.
If we're assessing best signings since Fergie surely the criteria have to include some, if not all, of the following:
Value for Money
Ability Shown
Impact/Benefit to the team.
When you consider these then:
Shaw - Over 250 appearances, been world class at times, our player of the year multiple times, added LCB to his ability.
Zlatan - Zero downside to this free transfer. Delivered our most successful season in post-Fergie era, prolific, provided an aura of fear.
Bruno - Carried us in the COVID era. Arguable his style of play isn't suitable for a top club and is now holding us back but we've got good value for his fee, another who has been POTY here.
Dan James - A throwback to the type of signing we would regularly make. Didn't workout as he never improved but the only player we made a profit on in the post-Fergie era I think so based on this and fact remainder of our signings don't deserve to be on this list he sneaks in.
Herrera getting a lot of unnecessary hate. Guy would start for us currently. Ideal player for the reserve CM role in the mould of Butt/Fletcher. Always worked for the shirt, had a bit of bite about him and good technical ability.
If we're assessing best signings since Fergie surely the criteria have to include some, if not all, of the following:
Value for Money
Ability Shown
Impact/Benefit to the team.
When you consider these then:
Shaw - Over 250 appearances, been world class at times, our player of the year multiple times, added LCB to his ability.
Zlatan - Zero downside to this free transfer. Delivered our most successful season in post-Fergie era, prolific, provided an aura of fear.
Bruno - Carried us in the COVID era. Arguable his style of play isn't suitable for a top club and is now holding us back but we've got good value for his fee, another who has been POTY here.
Dan James - A throwback to the type of signing we would regularly make. Didn't workout as he never improved but the only player we made a profit on in the post-Fergie era I think so based on this and fact remainder of our signings don't deserve to be on this list he sneaks in.
Herrera getting a lot of unnecessary hate. Guy would start for us currently. Ideal player for the reserve CM role in the mould of Butt/Fletcher. Always worked for the shirt, had a bit of bite about him and good technical ability.
Best transfers, I mean if we look at value for money , there are alternative players who really did no less then we could expect:
- fellaini - net cost of €25mil after sale , not sure we could of expected anymore from him then what he gave us
- shaw, has been great value , a savage injury held him back but overall for me a solid buy
-Blind, nearly net zero transfer cost , was always a good squad player
- Sergio Romero
- zlatan
- Lindleof, grand as a squad player, plenty of games
- Dalot, relatively cheap , I’d say we could sell for cost price or more but not a bad squad player
- Bruno - we’d get 100 mil from Saudi clubs, he divides opinion but he saved at least one season for us, very much a great signing
I still think it’s too early to judge ETH signings. 4 months ago people were relatively happy enough but the longer these signings haven’t been playing due to injury , for some reason they seem to be getting worse in people’s minds. I also think it’s unfair to judge players who have just joined inui a team/club that’s got a lot of issues at the same time going on.
I also think people are really bad at quantifying what we get from players who are squad players or squad level players.
As for Bruno , I don’t know how anybody could objectively leave him out. People seem to love hating him for some reason, there’s been plenty of superstars at United who were toxic and who I wished the worst thing they did was whinge a bit. At least Bruno still works hard. Some of you let the media (and maybe rival fans) get to you a bit too much.
Cantona and keane both did stuff far beyond whinging and us fans stuck behind them. Some players have demons and issues that’s just part of who they are, whinging at refs or teammates is far from the worst.
I really hate modern day internet and media nonsense looking to make hero’s and villains the flimsiest and most shallow ways.
- fellaini - net cost of €25mil after sale , not sure we could of expected anymore from him then what he gave us
- shaw, has been great value , a savage injury held him back but overall for me a solid buy
-Blind, nearly net zero transfer cost , was always a good squad player
- Sergio Romero
- zlatan
- Lindleof, grand as a squad player, plenty of games
- Dalot, relatively cheap , I’d say we could sell for cost price or more but not a bad squad player
- Bruno - we’d get 100 mil from Saudi clubs, he divides opinion but he saved at least one season for us, very much a great signing
I still think it’s too early to judge ETH signings. 4 months ago people were relatively happy enough but the longer these signings haven’t been playing due to injury , for some reason they seem to be getting worse in people’s minds. I also think it’s unfair to judge players who have just joined inui a team/club that’s got a lot of issues at the same time going on.
I also think people are really bad at quantifying what we get from players who are squad players or squad level players.
As for Bruno , I don’t know how anybody could objectively leave him out. People seem to love hating him for some reason, there’s been plenty of superstars at United who were toxic and who I wished the worst thing they did was whinge a bit. At least Bruno still works hard. Some of you let the media (and maybe rival fans) get to you a bit too much.
Cantona and keane both did stuff far beyond whinging and us fans stuck behind them. Some players have demons and issues that’s just part of who they are, whinging at refs or teammates is far from the worst.
I really hate modern day internet and media nonsense looking to make hero’s and villains the flimsiest and most shallow ways.
Mata was an unnecessary signing, made worse by trying to use him as an orthodox winger.
Rooney should have been booted out to pasture at the same time.
That rumoured £20m plus Mata bid for Rooney in summer 2013 would have made more sense than what eventually happened.
Instead we tried to fit both in and had both of their limitations exposed.
Rooney should have been booted out to pasture at the same time.
That rumoured £20m plus Mata bid for Rooney in summer 2013 would have made more sense than what eventually happened.
Instead we tried to fit both in and had both of their limitations exposed.
Many of the players we signed post Fergie would have thrived in a Ferguson team. Or a Guardiola team, Klopp team etc. But it really doesn't matter who you buy, if the foundation is rotten.
It's pretty telling, isn't it, that this is a top 4 best transfers? Should have been a top ten, but I would struggle to fill in the rest of the spaces as well.
To me, Zlatan and Garnacho would replace Shaw and Herrera on OP's list.
It's pretty telling, isn't it, that this is a top 4 best transfers? Should have been a top ten, but I would struggle to fill in the rest of the spaces as well.
To me, Zlatan and Garnacho would replace Shaw and Herrera on OP's list.
At £85m he has to be one of the worst transfers in PL history.
No bandwagon needed to realise how shite he is. Try selling him, see how much he goes for.
*** Di Maria is ten times the footballer Antony will ever be.
I remember we signed Mata and I was chatting with an Everton fan soon after.
He said, without question, there is no way would Mata fit into what Moyes will manage on a team.
United, as far as i am concerned, didnt buy Moyes players he wanted, they bought players they could get.
This has happened so often to every single manager United has had. I am sick of hearing people say "ETH/OLE/JOSE/LVG/MOYES" signings. They were players signed while these managers were in charge, but that does not mean that they were priority targets or even targets, there are so many examples of signings where United signed players looking to leave their clubs. Remarkable how often we took these players and they inevitably didnt work out.
Di Maria was effectively a €12million loan signing. We got maybe 4-6 weeks of quality and the rest was awful, worse then Anthony awful. He was player of the year in CL, hitting his peak years so he had no excuse. He effectively didnt bother his arse (hiding behind a robbery) until he got the transfer he actually originally wanted which was PSG. He was a joke of a transfer and a terrible aquisition.
Anthony was bought for less then Di Maria if you factor in Inflation. He hasnt been great at times, we defo overpaid for him but he works very hard and has time to improve. Even if we only got 50 million for him in a few years, he will of been better value for Di Marias 6 million per decent month that we got.
How’s it any different with Zlatan? At least Martinez has future potential on his side.
Shaw and Bruno are the only decent signings in my opinion. Zlatan and Erikson were good free transfers.
Di Maria got 10 assists and 3 goals in 27 games. He just really didn't like the club or Manchester, which is understandable given the break-in. His level of performance was good and if we had witnessed the past 10 years, we'd think he was a genius saviour now...like we overrate Bruno because of his stats
Martinez can still flop as much as he can succeed. Zlatan already left so we have his full period here to evaluate.
If Martinez turned out injury prone and barely featured in the next 2 years then left, let's assume that, hypothetically, his first season wouldn't be enough to consider him a good buy.
This actually happened with Bailly who had a great first season then turned out a complete flop in next several years due to injuries and inconsistency.
So it's way too early to evaluate Martinez as one of our best transfers in last 11 years when he spent the majority of his 2nd season so far injured.
Di Maria has twice the numbers Antony had for us while playing less games and even while not wanting to be here.
But I consider Martinez's first season with us to be equal to Zlatan's first (and really only) season with us.
Shaw
Fernandes
Martinez
Casemiro ( look how much he elevated us last season, could have been the cdm version of RVP if everything else was in place )
Fernandes
Martinez
Casemiro ( look how much he elevated us last season, could have been the cdm version of RVP if everything else was in place )
Dont think I would be including Herrera in that list somehow, when he was good he was great but he was on the bench quite often as well.
Its pretty damning that its hard to think of 4 transfers that were a complete success.
Bruno yes,Shaw yes, Zlatan probably (although the knee injury killed it) and too early to say with Martinez yet.
Casemiro this season has taken off some of the shine over how vital he was last season.
Its pretty damning that its hard to think of 4 transfers that were a complete success.
Bruno yes,Shaw yes, Zlatan probably (although the knee injury killed it) and too early to say with Martinez yet.
Casemiro this season has taken off some of the shine over how vital he was last season.
Finally, someone who remembers it how I do.
The guy was a far worse signing than Antony all things considered. The fact he was voted worse prem signing that season should say enough.
There is more to a good or bad transfer than just that. His attitude was appalling. Glad to see you back by the way, last weekend must have been hard for you.
He was that good he was voted worst signing of the season.....
I think people remember his time here with rose coloured glasses. His level of performance was crap for 80% of the season.
When you look at the entire list of signings since SAF its a disaster. I’ve picked through who can be considered as having an impact and being an important player in the team, I reckon there are 16…
16.Dalot
15.AWB
14.Maguire
13.Blind
12.Mata
11.Martial
10.Herrera
9.Varane
8.Casemiro
7.Fred
6.Matic
5.Pogba
4.Martinez
3.Zlatan
2.Bruno
1.Shaw
I think Shaw has been far and away the best signing, which in itself is a sad indictment. I think you have to weigh up everything with Bruno. He was sensational when he first came in, his first 12 months were generally very good, he always plays and has a very positive regard around him from supporters and media. Zlatan came in with the arrogance that a United player should have.
16.Dalot
15.AWB
14.Maguire
13.Blind
12.Mata
11.Martial
10.Herrera
9.Varane
8.Casemiro
7.Fred
6.Matic
5.Pogba
4.Martinez
3.Zlatan
2.Bruno
1.Shaw
I think Shaw has been far and away the best signing, which in itself is a sad indictment. I think you have to weigh up everything with Bruno. He was sensational when he first came in, his first 12 months were generally very good, he always plays and has a very positive regard around him from supporters and media. Zlatan came in with the arrogance that a United player should have.
You could make a very depressing and pessimistic argument that there hasn't been a single 100% surefire success in the transfer market since Fergie retired.
And then when you think about the cold truth that it isn't pessimistic but reality. £1.5 billion? Colossal failure.
And then when you think about the cold truth that it isn't pessimistic but reality. £1.5 billion? Colossal failure.
I don’t think there has been. Luke Shaw is the standout for me then Martinez and Garnacho but we need to see those two over longer periods and Shaw absolutely has enough negative points
Post Fergy transfers
Zlatan - he was old but he still scored the goals. Plus seemed grateful to be here and enjoyed his time too. As did the fans
Bruno - Stellar signing.
Shaw - same as above
Bissaka - good signing for the price. Has become better off late in terms of attacking. But he's come up in the era where fans expect the United wingback to be someone else.
Ronaldo - was pretty good for one season before it started going downhill.
Meh signings
Maguire - pricetag doesn't help and continuous changing and chopping of coaches affected him. Did do okay atleast in the initial part of his United career.
Fred - expensive price but did a 5-6/10 job most of the times. Wasn't a dud.
James - useful player , sold him for a profit. Good deal but wasn't a player of United calibre
Herrera - same as Fred
Mata - could have been a lot better but the coaches never seem to have had a consistent plan on how to fit him in the side. Seems a good bloke though.
Blind - useful footballer , should have kept him imo
Matic - could have been a dud as we bought him when his legs were gone but in theory , he made a solid transfer
Cavani - could have been used better but a pretty okay signing
Duds
VDB , Antony , Sancho , Di Maria , Shweinsteiger , Depay , Telles
Not rating Casemiro , Varane , Martinez just yet as remains to be seen if they are average transfers or good ones (mostly due to their prices and fitness issues).
Zlatan - he was old but he still scored the goals. Plus seemed grateful to be here and enjoyed his time too. As did the fans
Bruno - Stellar signing.
Shaw - same as above
Bissaka - good signing for the price. Has become better off late in terms of attacking. But he's come up in the era where fans expect the United wingback to be someone else.
Ronaldo - was pretty good for one season before it started going downhill.
Meh signings
Maguire - pricetag doesn't help and continuous changing and chopping of coaches affected him. Did do okay atleast in the initial part of his United career.
Fred - expensive price but did a 5-6/10 job most of the times. Wasn't a dud.
James - useful player , sold him for a profit. Good deal but wasn't a player of United calibre
Herrera - same as Fred
Mata - could have been a lot better but the coaches never seem to have had a consistent plan on how to fit him in the side. Seems a good bloke though.
Blind - useful footballer , should have kept him imo
Matic - could have been a dud as we bought him when his legs were gone but in theory , he made a solid transfer
Cavani - could have been used better but a pretty okay signing
Duds
VDB , Antony , Sancho , Di Maria , Shweinsteiger , Depay , Telles
Not rating Casemiro , Varane , Martinez just yet as remains to be seen if they are average transfers or good ones (mostly due to their prices and fitness issues).
Surprised that Jonny Evans hasn't made the list. He has been a big plus this season.
Depressingly enough he probably should have
I miss Ander Herrea. The sort of player who embraced the shithouse side of the game we always had at this club in the past.