It has gone dreadfully wrong after Rio Ferdinand urged Manchester United to sign the next “best player in the world.”

It has gone dreadfully wrong after Rio Ferdinand urged Manchester United to sign the next “best player in the world.”

Manchester United’s transfer record list also serves as a classification of the most costly errors the club has committed. Hundreds of millions have been squandered on players who have either failed to meet the expectations of the price tag or have been utterly disastrous for Manchester United over the course of years of mismanagement at Old Trafford.

Erling Haaland, as well as numerous other world-class talents, were overlooked by United for pennies by the Glazer family, who operated the football club without regard for their employees’ expertise.

In the interim, United have signed several high-profile failures, including Antony and Romelu Lukaku, as well as Casemiro, who is further down the list. Top five record-breaking signings by Manchester United Paul Pogba: £89.3 million Antony: £82 million Harry Maguire: £80 million Romelu Lukaku: £75 million Jadon Sancho: £73 million

After that, Sancho was unable to regain the form that he exhibited during his tenure at Borussia Dortmund. Sancho encountered significant difficulties under Erik ten Hag until the public altercation between the two.

According to Goal, Ferdinand, the club’s legend and pundit, even encouraged the club to consider re-signing the winger in 2020, making it impossible to anticipate Sancho’s disastrous tenure at United. “If you have the opportunity to sign a player who has the potential to be the best player in the world for the next decade and has been the best teenager for the past two years, go and get him.

It’s that simple.” At the time, it was entirely reasonable to anticipate that Sancho would be on the Ballon d’Or podiums for the next decade, despite Ferdinand’s bold commendation. However, something has gone terribly awry. Jadon Sancho’s potential for the Ballon d’Or was never realised.

Ferdinand’s assertion that Sancho would become one of the next great players in international football may have appeared audacious, but it was certainly accurate at the time. Sancho had recently completed a 36-goal season, which had been preceded by a 40-goal season in 2019/20, when United signed him in 2021. Goals and assists during the club season

United/Chelsea 2024/25 23 2 6 United/Dortmund 2023/24 24 3 3 United 2022/23 41 7 3 United Dortmund 2021/22 38 5 3 2020/21: 38, 16, and 20 Dortmund 2019/20 44 20 20 In 2019, Sancho was ranked second to Matthijs de Ligt in the Kopa trophy rankings, which are essentially the youth Ballon d’Or. The signing of Sancho was met with enthusiasm by every United fan.