sport news Where does Paul Pogba rank in Manchester United's 10 most costly signings? trends now
Few tears were shed when Manchester United announced that Paul Pogba would be leaving the club after his contract expires at the end of this month.
Pogba, who United re-signed from Juventus for £89million in 2016, has been a divisive figure among the Old Trafford fanbase. For many, he has not come close to justifying his price tag or reputation.
Sportsmail revealed on Wednesday that the 29-year-old Frenchman, who looks destined to return to Juventus on a free transfer, will walk away with a £3.78million loyalty bonus when he leaves, bringing the total cost to United to a whopping £219million.
But he is not the only expensive flop to have spectacularly failed to deliver. Here, Sportsmail ranks the 10 worst - and most costly - signings United have made in the Premier League era.
Paul Pogba's widely expected departure from Manchester United was confirmed Wednesday
United released a gushing statement on Pogba, despite his poor second spell at the club
10. Memphis Depay (£31million from PSV Eindhoven, 2015)
Considerable excitement greeted the Dutch winger's arrival at OId Trafford in the summer of 2015.
Depay came with a reputation of being lively, tricky and direct but he could not bring that to the Premier League.
He made 53 appearances for United, scoring seven goals - including two in a promising showing in a Champions League play-off with Club Brugge - and made six assists before he was sold to Lyon midway through Jose Mourinho's first season.
A case of right player at the wrong time, perhaps?
Memphis Depay promised much but delivered little in his short career at Old Trafford
9. Angelo Herinquez (£4.95m from Universidad de Chile, 2012)
Even the staunchest of United fans will be forgiven for failing to remember this Chilean striker ever playing for the club. Well, that's because he didn't.
Henriquez would feature on a list of Sir Alex Ferguson's most peculiar transfers - more of those later - as he joined as a relative unknown for nearly £5m.
He was never given a senior appearance by Ferguson, who said at the time that the youngster had made a 'tremendous impact on the game in his short career so far', and was farmed out to Wigan, Real Zaragoza and Dinamo Zagreb before eventually signing for the Croatian side in 2015.
Henriquez cost more than Teddy Sheringham, who won the Treble for United. A bizarre move all around.
Chilean striker Angelo Henriquez never made a senior appearance in three years at United
8. Anthony Martial (initial £36m from Monaco, 2015)
While there was no doubting the promise of the Frenchman, eyebrows were raised nonetheless at United stumping up a world-record fee for a teenager to sign the French winger.
Martial had hardly set the world alight in Ligue 1, scoring eight goals in 31 league games prior to his transfer to United.
After netting a superb individual effort against United's arch-rivals Liverpool on his home debut, and the winner in an FA Cup semi-final, in his first season, the difficulties began to set in for the talented forward.
Save for the second half of the 2019-20 season, he has struggled for consistency and was shipped out to Sevilla on loan in January of this year. His future at the club under new manager Erik ten Hag looks bleak.
Anthony Martial made a fairytale start to his United career with a goal on debut vs Liverpool
The Frenchman was frozen out last term and endured a disappointing loan spell with Sevilla
7. Juan Sebastian Veron (£28.1m from Lazio, 2001)
The midfielder's signing was considered a coup for United, who thought they were getting one of the best players in the world in his position.
Sadly, it did not work out that way for the silky, suave Argentinian. After a bright start to his career at Old Trafford, he endured somewhat of a torrid time in Manchester as he struggled to cope with the relentlessness of the schedule in England.
Veron's second season was not much better as United cut their losses and sold him to Chelsea for £15million at the end of the campaign.
One of the more memorable moments during Veron's ill-fated spell at Old Trafford was when criticism of his performances sparked a trademark expletive-laden rant from Ferguson. 'He [Veron] is a f****** great player' he told journalists. 'And you're all f****** idiots.'
Juan Sebastian Veron failed to cut it at Manchester United despite his reputation in the game
Ferguson once described Veron as a 'f****** great player' in response to media criticism
6. Bastian Schweinsteiger (£14.4million from Bayern Munich, 2015)
£5,963-a-minute. That is the reported cost of the German's United career, which never really kicked into life.
Like Veron, the signing of Schweinsteiger was seen as a shrewd piece of business from United. He arrived as a legendary figure, whose reputation could only be enhanced by playing in the Premier League, right? Wrong.
He featured in just 35 matches for the club in nearly two years but pocketed around £12m in wages, a staggering figure for a player who at one point was ruthlessly demoted to training with the Under 23s by Mourinho.
Schweinsteiger later
