Online Reporter
Because amazingly there are ten former United players who are currently clubless.
United spent £294.7million on them.
Juan Mata was a club-record signing in 2014 and the £89m Paul Pogba broke the world record with his 2016 return. Mata, at 38, is the eldest, followed by Chris Smalling at 36. Then there is Pogba at 33.
Ryan Giggs was 33 when he lifted his ninth Premier League title and there would be four more.
JUAN MATA
Mata has been winding down with a worldwide farewell tour since he left United in 2022, taking in Turkey, Japan and Australia.
Officially, he has not retired but was on punditry duty for ITV again at Wembley on Saturday.
CHRIS SMALLING
Smalling is back in England after a couple of years in the Saudi Arabian retirement home.
He wants to continue playing but few leagues offer a home to someone who has had their feet up in the Gulf.
PAUL POGBA
Pogba was a ruinous presence during his final four years at United and his career has been in ruins since he left in 2022.
Injury issues, an 18-month doping ban and familial strife cast looming shadows over a World Cup final winner and goalscorer.
During the recent World Cup, Pogba was in the United States plugging a brand alongside David Beckham. Beckham, 51, retired when Pogba was 20.
Monaco released Pogba after one start last season. He lasted 58 minutes.
Once the most expensive footballer on the planet, the chickens have come home to roost for a player who sported the cockerel 91 times for France.
Pogba’s brand-centric approach (the Stormzy unveiling video, first footballer to have an emoji, the ‘Pogmentary’ etc.) suggested a wavering focus.
It is a great shame as, at his optimum, Pogba had the physical dominance of a midfielder and creativity of a playmaker.
He is damaged goods now. No club is prepared to foot the bill for a player who had a basic annual salary of £7.5million at United and who has been a fading force for five injury-afflicted and turbulent years.
ANTHONY MARTIAL
The same applies to Martial. It is not a coincidence that Pogba and Martial, two players the former United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward indulged to usher in the player-power era, are impossible sells even as free agents.
Martial’s injury woe dates back further than Pogba’s and he was a flakier footballer who averaged nine goals per season during his nine years in Manchester.
Martial’s final six months at United were spent on the treatment table.
It spoke volumes that Martial ended up at AEK Athens after United released him in 2024.
He joined Mexican club Monterrey last September on a two-year deal that was terminated a year early.
JADON SANCHO
Sancho provided an easy punchline when he rocked up at Flixton for some individual training in the summer. It soon emerged that Sancho had “several offers” from here, there and everywhere and he was weighing up his options.
That was about as believable as Sancho’s excuse for his absence at Arsenal in September 2023.
Erik ten Hag’s decision to omit Sancho from the squad was effectively a career-ender, despite the fact that Sancho has since extraordinarily played in a Champions League final, a Europa Conference League final and Europa League final, winning the latter two. Chelsea paid a penalty fee to not buy Sancho and Aston Villa had no interest in making his loan permanent.
Another inconsistent and undependable talent gifted an inflated salary by United, Sancho is another tough sell, even at the age of only 26.
WILFRIED ZAHA
Wilfried Zaha was good, but never as good as he or Crystal Palace thought. Hence why he ended up in the Turkey retirement home with Galatasaray in 2023. Zaha, 33, was too wedded to Palace for anyone to take a punt on him when his contract at Selhurst Park eventually expired. His legacy is somewhat dimmed by the club’s subsequent golden era and the brilliance of Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze, wingers who have reached loftier heights.
ADNAN JANUZAJ
Zaha and Januzaj were on David Moyes’s only pre-season tour at United in 2013.
With one right-footed and one left-footed, the duo had the ability to be long-term wingers for United but Zaha’s face didn’t fit under Moyes and Januzaj jarred with Louis van Gaal.
Januzaj’s spells at Real Sociedad and Sevilla highlight the regard he was held in and he represented Belgium at two World Cup finals.
But he remains an unfulfilled talent, one who never truly recovered from Van Gaal’s terse management.
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN
Eriksen had to wait nearly four months after he left United last year for a new club in Wolfsburg. The 2009 Bundesliga champions were almost relegated. Denmark international Eriksen signed a two-year contract but he left by mutual consent last week.
That came after Eriksen collapsed during Denmark’s friendly with Ukraine in June, five years after he suffered a cardiac arrest during the European Championship opener against Finland.
It is a credit to the 34-year-old Eriksen that he had a decent few years with United after he was carried off the turf in Copenhagen. Eriksen was integral in Ten Hag’s successful first campaign and helped United to four finals.
MATTEO DARMIAN
Matteo Darmian enjoyed an Indian summer at Inter Milan, where he won three Scudettos and as many Coppa Italias as well as reaching two Champions League finals. Darmian, 36, was released by Inter in the summer and there is no real market for an ageing Italian defender.
BRANDON WILLIAMS
Williams’ self-sabotaging of his career has been charted nearer the front pages of newspapers.
An attempt to jump-start it stalled at Hull earlier this year and Williams, 26, recently trained with League Two Rochdale. Rochdale decided against offering him a contract.
It was less than four years ago that Malacia was in the Netherlands’ World Cup squad in Qatar.
During his first season at United in 2022-23, Malacia and David de Gea were the only players to be included in all 62 matchday squads.
After a serious knee injury that required two rounds of surgery, five starts (four which ended at half-time), a forgettable loan stint at PSV Eindhoven, ‘bomb squad’ status and an aborted move to Turkey, Malacia has had to settle for the MLS at the age of 27.
Even De Gea could not get a club for a year.
The full 10 are: Matteo Darmian, Chris Smalling, Brandon Williams, Paul Pogba, Christian Eriksen, Juan Mata, Jadon Sancho, Wilfried Zaha, Adnan Januzaj and Anthony Martial. – Sun
