Antony, Diego Forlan and the 10 Man Utd flops who excelled after escaping Old Trafford hell - ranked

After two-and-a-half seasons of abject misery, Antony joined Real Betis on loan, and is already starting to look at least something like the £85 million ($106m) player United thought they were buying from Ajax in 2022. The Brazilian winger has registered two goals and an assist in his first three games for Betis, having been instantly handed a starting role by ex-Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini.

Now, we admit Antony's inclusion on this list is very premature, and we haven't forgotten that he also made a strong start at Old Trafford, becoming the first United player to ever score in his first three Premier League appearances. But the 24-year-old has also picked up successive Player of the Match awards in a Betis shirt, which was a just reward for his dynamic performances.

Antony struggled to get to grips with the speed and intensity of English football, but has more space and time on the ball in La Liga. There's a good chance he will continue to thrive and potentially earn a permanent transfer to a far less pressurised environment, which Betis have already opened the door to.

United went through a very erratic period with their goalkeepers after the departure of legendary shot-stopper Peter Schmeichel in 1999. The disastrous tenures of Massimo Taibi and Mark Bosnich were followed by a rollercoaster three years with Fabian Barthez as the No.1, with the France World Cup winner just as prone to moments of madness as he was brilliance.

In 2003-04, United States goalkeeper Tim Howard took over, but folded under the weight of expectation as United slumped to a third-place Premier League finish. He was then drawn into a selection battle with the calamitous Roy Carroll, before the arrival of Edwin van der Sar forced him to look for a new home.

Howard got his second chance in the Premier League at Everton in 2007, and went on to rack up 414 appearances in all competitions for the Toffees over the next nine years. Everton fans took the American into their hearts because of his impressive reflexes and leadership skills, and to this day he remains ninth on the list for the most clean sheets in Premier League history.

Angel Gomes was once heralded as the most exciting academy product on United's books, having initially started his journey with the club as a six year old. The English midfielder graduated into the senior team in 2017, and became the fourth-youngest debutant in the club's entire history at the age of 16 years, eight months and 20 days when he stepped off the bench in a Premier League encounter against Crystal Palace.

However, he would only appear in nine more matches for the Red Devils after failing to kick on under Jose Mourinho or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and was eventually released in the summer of 2020. Gomes subsequently joined Lille, and after an encouraging loan spell at Boavista in 2020-21, he managed to establish himself as a key player for the Ligue 1 giants.

The 24-year-old has impressed enough to break into the England squad, and it has been reported current United head coach Ruben Amorim is interested in bringing Gomes back to the club this summer when he becomes a free agent. It's fair to say that United should have been more patient with Gomes, who would now be wise to look elsewhere if he wants to take the next step forward in his rejuvenated career.

We know what you're thinking: it is a bit harsh to put Scott McTominay in these rankings. After all, he made over 250 appearances for United and recorded a respectable 37 goal contributions, while also getting his hands on Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup winners' medals.

But aside from his final season at the club, in which he became a regular source of crucial late goals, McTominay was little more than a workhorse who, at times, ran around like a headless chicken with no positional sense or elegance on the ball, and formed one half of the much-maligned 'McFred' midfield partnership. His status as a guaranteed starter was seen as a sign of United's mediocrity, so when the decision was made to accept a £25m ($31m) bid for his services from Napoli last summer, it felt long overdue.

However, the one thing McTominay has always had in abundance is character. He's bounced back to serve as the driving force behind Napoli's surprise bid for the 2024-25 Scudetto, with former Chelsea and Tottenham boss Antonio Conte proving to be the perfect mentor for the determined Scot. United would probably take him back in a heartbeat now.

Next up is another United academy graduate who never unlocked his full potential at Old Trafford: Anthony Elanga. The Swedish forward only scored four goals in 55 senior appearances for the Red Devils as he toiled for regular minutes, and although he was always a threat with his pace, a distinct lack of composure in the final third led to the club shipping him off to Nottingham Forest for just £15m ($19m) in the summer of 2023.

Elanga wasn't an instant success at the City Ground, finding the net just once in his first eight Premier League appearances, but Nuno Espirito Santo's appointment as manager in December that year ignited a spark in him. The former United starlet was essential to Forest's successful escape from relegation, and this season he's taken his game to a whole new level.

Forest have emerged as shock Champions League qualification contenders under Nuno, and Elanga has been involved in 11 goals in 24 games, dazzling on the right of a fearsome front three alongside Chris Wood and Callum Hudson-Odoi. Unsurprisingly, Elanga doesn't regret leaving United, as he told The Athletic in December: "I made the right decision, 100 per cent. Yes, there was the thought that, ‘I am playing for Manchester United’. But I also never felt as though I was improving." There's no doubt he is now.

There was a lot of buzz around Henrikh Mkhitaryan when he joined United from Borussia Dortmund for £30m ($37m) in 2016, on the back of winning the Bundesliga Players' Player of the Season with 15 assists to his name. However, the Armenian never quite managed to live up to his reputation as one of Europe's best central midfielders, despite spearheading United's run to Europa League glory in his first season with six goals in 11 matches, including one in their final victory over Ajax.

Mkhitaryan only started 15 times in the Premier League, and completely fell out of favour with Mourinho in the first half of the 2017-18 campaign, with the Portuguese even going so far as to accuse him of "disappearing". It soon became clear he had no future at Old Trafford, and he was sold to Arsenal that winter in a swap deal involving Alexis Sanchez.

Mkhitaryan didn't fare much better at Arsenal, but rediscovered his rhythm after joining Roma in 2020, before moving to their Serie A rivals Inter two years later. Simone Inzaghi gave him a starring role right from the off, and he's since become a Scudetto winner and Champions League finalist with the Nerazzurri. Mkhitaryan never looked settled in English football, but has found his spiritual home in Italy, and remains a slick operator to this day at the ripe old age of 36.

Matteo Darmian was seen as an underwhelming signing when he joined United from Torino in 2015, and that's exactly what he proved to be. The Italian full-back scored one goal in four years with the Red Devils and returned to Italy with Parma after realising he was never going to dislodge Luke Shaw in the starting XI.

Parma gave Darmian the platform to play week in, week out again, and he performed so well in his debut season that Inter came calling, initially snapping him up on loan for the 2020-21 campaign. Darmian helped the Nerazzurri win their first Scudetto in 11 years, earning a permanent contract in the process, and even now the 35-year-old remains one of Inzaghi's most trusted lieutenants.

Darmian could become a three-time Serie A winner come May, and he's still a key member of the Italian national team. How United must wish they'd persisted with him for a bit longer amid a real selection crisis at left-back, with Shaw now reduced to a physical wreck.

When United signed Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid in 2014 for a then-British record transfer fee of £60m ($75m), it was seen as a huge statement of intent after David Moyes' disastrous spell at the helm. His successor, Louis van Gaal, had brought in one of Real Madrid's best players, who lifted the Champions League in his final season at the club before shining during Argentina's run to the World Cup final, and it felt like a sure thing.

The hype grew after Di Maria registered four goal contributions in his first three Premier League games, including a stunning lobbed finish against Leicester, but that was as good as it got for the Argentine. Di Maria struggled to adapt to life in England and it showed in his performances, which ranged from disinterested to flat-out dire, and after a burglary at his family home in February 2015, he decided he wouldn't be sticking around for more than one season.

However, Di Maria showed that class is permanent after moving on to Paris Saint-Germain, where he scored 93 goals and laid on another 119 in 295 appearances, winning 19 trophies along the way. Argentina's 2022 World Cup success wouldn't have been possible without the brilliance of Di Maria either, and he's now enjoying a fine swansong at Benfica.

Perhaps things would have been different for Di Maria at United had it not been for Van Gaal, who he has described as the "worst coach of my career". Ouch!

"Diego, whoah, Diego, whoah. He came from Uruguay, he made the Scousers cry..."

Who could forget the iconic chant United fans made up for Diego Forlan after his match-winning double against Liverpool at Anfield in January 2003. Forlan became a cult hero in his two-year stint at Old Trafford, also scoring vital winning goals against Southampton and Chelsea that helped the Red Devils wrestle the Premier League title back from Arsenal.

But Forlan was ultimately a big disappointment. It took him 27 games to open his account for United, and he left for Villarreal in 2004 with only 10 Premier League goals on his CV. The Uruguay international fought a losing battle against Ruud van Nistelrooy for the No.9 role, while the later arrival of Wayne Rooney left him with no choice but to seek a new challenge.

To everyone's amazement, Forlan would go on to become a La Liga legend. He hit 59 goals for Villarreal before smashing home another 96 at Atletico Madrid, winning the European Golden Shoe twice across his seven years in Spain. Forlan also won the Golden Ball at the 2010 World Cup and finished as joint-top scorer as Uruguay reached the semi-finals, solidifying his standing as one of the best strikers of his generation.

It's easy to forget that Gerard Pique started his career at United. The Spanish defender is now known as a Barcelona icon who won nine La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues at Camp Nou, but few would have predicted he would reach such dizzy heights after his unremarkable four-year spell with the Red Devils.

United signed Pique from Barca's La Masia academy in 2004 with huge hopes for the 17-year-old, but he would only feature in 23 games across all competitions for Ferguson's side, ultimately unable to get a look-in at centre-back ahead of Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic. Pique re-joined Barca for just £5m, and slipped seamlessly into Pep Guardiola's backline as the Catalan giants swept past all-comers en route to winning the treble in 2008-09, including his former club in the Champions League final.

Pique also won the World Cup and European Championship with Spain, and is widely considered to be among the greatest defenders in football history. He looks back on his time at United as a crucial part of his journey, too, as he told The Telegraph in 2015: "I didn’t play as much as I would have liked, but it was a masters degree in development both as a player and a person."