Since the major commercialisation and globalisation of football, huge amounts of money have been injected into the sport, with the once fabled ‘beautiful game’ having its foundations and identity stripped away, little by little.
This is largely due to the rise of TV money, as a result of the huge conglomerates like Sky and BT, who pay ridiculous amounts to own the rights to show Premier League games.
However, other factors do come into play, but what is guaranteed is that the money in football has skyrocketed in the last few decades and thus so have transfers and the cost of them.
Therefore, with the size and spending power of Manchester United, they’ve bought and sold some huge players.
Here’s United’s top 10 biggest sales ever:
10th – Daley Blind
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The 32-year-old defender left United for an initial fee of £14.1m, which had the potential to rise to £18.5m.
The Dutchman played 141 times in his four seasons for the red devils, but unfortunately his influence and playing time gradually declined as United brought in other defenders like Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof.
After United, Blind spent four and a half years playing for Ajax, before moving to Bayern Munich on a free transfer and then six months later moving to Spain to play for Girona, whom he currently plays for.
9th – Danny Welbeck
The English forward left Manchester to join north London’s Arsenal for £16m.
At United, Welbeck scored 29 goals and assisted 21. However, despite scoring nine Premier League goals in the 13/14 season, he was shipped out due to Radamel Falcao’s arrival.
Welbeck has since gone onto play for Arsenal and Watford, before eventually settling at Brighton Hove Albion, and is now a regular starter there.
8th – Jaap Stam
The fearless Dutch defender was sold to Lazio for £16m in 2001. This came after a bust up with his manager Sir Alex Ferguson over some words in Stam’s autobiography.
However, Ferguson later went onto admit that he ‘made a mistake’ in selling Stam.
Whilst in Manchester, Stam played 127 times and is renowned as one of the greatest Premier League defenders of all time.
After leaving United, Stam played in Italy for five years for both Lazio and AC Milan before retiring in his native country of the Netherlands.
7th – Memphis Depay
The current Atletico Madrid striker left United for a fee which could have risen to £21.7m.
Memphis joined with huge potential having scored 22 league goals in the Eredivisie just the season before.
However, life in Manchester wasn’t so good for Memphis, as he made just 53 appearances scoring only seven goals and assisting six.
Since then, Memphis has played for Lyon and Barcelona, but has currently found his home in Madrid playing for Atletico.
6th – Morgan Schneiderlin
The defensive midfielder left United in January 2017 for an initial £20m, which had the potential to rise to £24m.
He made 47 appearances in the 18 months he had at the 20 time Premier League winners, before joining Everton, with which whom he made just under double the appearances for in the four years he spent in Merseyside.
Since leaving English football, Schneiderlin has played for OGC Nice, who are owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos, who have been one of the two main interested buyers of United. Schneiderlin has now moved down under, playing in the Australian A-League for Western Sydney Warriors.
5th – Daniel James
The Welsh speedster left United to join rivals Leeds for £25m in August 2021.
United initially paid £15m for the Welsh international and so to make £10m profit is good business for the club.
Ironically, James was on the brink of joining Leeds on loan just months before he joined United, but the deal fell through.
Medical passed 💪
Contracts signed ✍️
Unveiling photos 📸
Done deal? ❌
Amazon documentary reveals how Daniel James' January move to Leeds United collapsed #mufc https://t.co/JXOHZoiYeT— Man United News (@ManUtdMEN) August 17, 2019
Whilst playing for the ‘red roses’ James made 74 appearances scoring nine goals and assisting nine.
James left Leeds to join Fulham on loan in the 22/23 season and has now returned to the Yorkshire side.
4th – David Beckham
One of the fabled ‘Class of 92’, Beckham left United for £25m in 2003.
The world class Englishman signed for Real Madrid to join the Galactico’s.
Beckham made 394 appearances for the club, scoring 85 goals and assisting a remarkable 120 in the 11 years since his debut for United.
Man United vs Galatasaray 1994
⚽⚽ David Beckham and Simon Davies score their first goals for the club
⚽⚽ Roy Keane and an own goal make it 4-0pic.twitter.com/Z7kSVCHI61— Vintage Football Shirts (@VFshirts) October 3, 2023
Beckham left United as a club legend, before then playing for Madrid, LA Galaxy, AC Milan and retiring at Paris St Germain (PSG).
A player who in today’s game would be worth well over £150m.
3rd – Angel Di Maria
The Argentinian left United to join PSG for £44.3m just a year after joining the club.
Di Maria was forced out of Madrid to join United for £59.7m which was a British record at the time.
The current Benfica player made 32 appearances for the red devils, scoring four goals and assisting 12.
With a loss of around £15m in a year, this was a transfer to forget for the United hierarchy.
Di Maria played seven seasons in France before moving to Juventus for a year.
In a move which likely marks the end of his career, the Argentinian has returned to former Portuguese club Benfica.
2nd – Romelu Lukaku
The all time Belgian international top goal scorer left United for £73m.
He joined Inter Milan to play under former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.
Lukaku scored 42 goals and assisted 13 in his 96 appearances for United.
Despite starting incredibly well, Lukaku lost form and eventually his place.
Since joining Inter Milan, Lukaku returned to Chelsea for £97.5M, then went back to Inter on loan and in a chaotic summer transfer window with Inter and Juventus competing for him, he ended up at Roma on a season long loan.
1st – Cristiano Ronaldo
The world record fee of £80m was enough to secure the best player in the world back then. Crazy what inflation can do…
Ronaldo joined as a promising but relatively unknown 19-year-old but left as one of the greatest players Manchester United and English football had ever seen.
The Portuguese superstar was integral to United’s Premier League and Champions League victory in 2008 which ultimately saw him win the Ballon D’or.
In today’s market, the 2008 version of Ronaldo, would likely be worth over £250m.
Unfortunately for United, since his departure, they’ve been unable to find a worthy right winger replacement in over a decade.