JAKARTA - Manchester United made a surprising breakthrough in the transfer market for the half of this season. The club nicknamed the Red Devils brought in Wout Weghorst.
The Dutchman came on loan from Burnley. The Red Devils are said to have spent 2.5 million (Rp46 billion) to shorten the player's tenure at Besiktas.
Weghorst, 30, who is currently undergoing a loan period to the Turkish club, will be playing for the club based at Old Trafford until 30 June. However, the decision to sign Weghorst was considered a strange move.
However, in the history of the club, MU is noted to have had several recruits that are considered unreasonable, especially the players they brought in the January transfer window.
🇳🇱🤝#MUFC pic.twitter.com/KFpRQzqvXA
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 13, 2023
Here are 10 failed MU recruits in the January transfer window as reported by The Sun:
Odion Ighalo
Ighalo arrived at Old Trafford in 2020 with a record scoring 16 goals in one Premier League season. However, that record occurred at Watford four years earlier.
After becoming a horrific striker with the Hornets in 2017, Ighalo left England and headed for China. He was later brought in by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who was desperate to find an attacker.
Ighalo also realized his dream of becoming the first Nigerian player to defend the Red Devils. Although considered sharp before, he failed to score in the Premier League.
However, he contributed an important goal in the FA Cup and Europa League so that his six-month loan period from Shanghai Shenhua was extended for another year. He then left and joined Al-Hilal in 2021.
Bebe
Bebe moved from Victoria Guimaraes to Old Trafford in early 2010. No kidding, Manchester United reportedly spent 7.4 million pundsterling (Rp136 billion) to get the player's services.
However, Bebe did not shine and was loaned more after agreeing to an agreement with MU. This failure was judged because coach Sir Alex Ferguson at that time only met Bebe a day before completing the transfer the next day.
Michael Owen
The striker has remained at Old Trafford as a substitute for three years. Even though he doesn't score every week, the goals he scores tend to be important.
He scored a hat-trick to Wolfsburg in the Champions League group stage and helped Manchester United into the Premier League Cup with a goal he scored against Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium.
However, the most important thing was that Owen scored in the last minute to bring United to a 4-3 win over their city rivals Manchester City in 2009.
Dong Fangzhuo
In 2004, Manchester United took a surprising step by signing Dong Fangzhuo from Dalian Shide.
Unfortunately, the striker who was the only Chinese player to ever play for the Red Devils, was then immediately expelled to the Royal greatrk club.
However, his record of scoring 34 goals in 71 games over two seasons shows he could eventually become more than just a marketing tool for United.
In January 2007, Dong was given a jersey number by Manchester United for the first time. However, he failed to captivate Fergie's heart so that his contract was terminated in 2008.
Henrik Larsson
As happened to Michael Owen, Henrik Larsson, who was 35 at the time, comes with a record of being one of the world's top strikers.
However, his presence in the body of the Red Devils is very short. MU had tried to hold him back, but instead he chose to leave in mid-March to strengthen in Sweden.
Manucho
This player was brought in in the summer transfer window in 2008. At the age of 24, he has a record 34 goals in 78 games with Petro Atletico.
However, he was noted to have never played outside his homeland. So, it's no surprise when United immediately decided to lend him to Panathinaikos.
Manaucho then came back and had the opportunity to play once in the summer of 2008 and made one appearance in the Premier League before being loaned out to Hull.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic
No transfer window passed without Manchester United was associated with Milinkovic-Savic. The Serbian international was then greeted by Red Devils fans in the January 2014 transfer window.
He was brought in from Vojvodina for 1.55 million, but was immediately loaned back to the Serbian club before being released in 2015 after failing to get a playing permit.
Andy Kellett
The name that is quite well known by some Manchester United fans is midfielder Andy Kellett. He joined Bolton's loan status for half a season in 2014/2015
However, Kellett only appeared for the reserve team during his short stay at United. He even suffered an embarrassing defeat to his parent club Bolton at Manchester Senior Cup.
Lee Grant
The former Derby and Burnley player spent two years as stocke City's reserve goalkeeper before being released in 2018. He was later taken by United as the third goalkeeper, helping David de Gea and Sergio Romero.
Grant's debut took place at home to a former Derby club in the League Cup after Romero missed. However, it didn't go as planned because United were knocked out on penalties.
Grant made his first start a year later when United lost to Kazakh Astana's representative in the Europa League. Grant is now retired and coach goalkeeper Ipswich Town.
Peter Beardley
The legend of Newcastle United and former Liverpool player Peter Beardsley will not be the first name to appear on the minds of former Manchester United players.
He was noted to have strengthened the Red Devils before appearing in the Magpies jersey. He joined MU from Vancouver Whitecaps after performing brilliantly in the North American Super League.
However, the player who is claimed to be the future star of England only appeared once in the League Cup match against Bournemouth before returning to Canada.
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