Ranking all 16 of Erik ten Hag’s signings at Manchester United from worst to best
Erik ten Hag’s time as Manchester United manager looks set to be coming to an end after two seasons in charge, and his signings in that time have been a real mixed bag.
It’s been an up-and-down ride under the Duchman for United, perhaps overachieving in his first season by finishing third and winning the Carabao Cup.
But United have massively underachieved in his second, with the Red Devils clocking in their worst finish in Premier League history. Even winning the FA Cup looks unlikely to save his job.
During his two years in charge of United, Ten Hag has made 16 signings in total. We’ve ranked them from worst to best, considering value for money, performance, availability and what they could offer going forward – if applicable.
16. Antony
£85million for a debut goal at Arsenal, absolutely no ability to beat a man or progress play, a seemingly terrible attitude on the pitch and further behavioural issues away from the field, which we have to avoid for legal reasons.
We’d have more faith in Britain’s current Tory government putting that sum of money to better use and that speaks volumes.
Comfortably Ten Hag’s worst signing at United, and one of the worst in Premier League history.
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15. Martin Dubravka
We’d forgive you for completely forgetting this happened, but alas, it did.
Dubravka was weirdly loaned in to deputise for David de Gea in 2022-23, played twice for United in the League Cup, hardly covered himself in glory and headed back to Newcastle in January 2023. Weird.
14. Jack Butland
Turned up in January 2023, took Dubravka’s place on the bench, and left that summer. Even more forgettable than the Newcastle stopper.
Sorry, Jack.
13. Casemiro
It’s a shame how this one has panned out, but when Real Madrid are willing to accept £70million for their five-time Champions League-winning defensive midfielder – who has plenty of miles on the clock and is approaching the wrong side of 30 – you’ve ultimately made your own bed.
United shoring up their side with someone as talented as Casemiro wasn’t a bad idea and it did actually work for a while in Ten Hag’s first season. When you hand him a five-year deal and astronomical wages, though, it suddenly sounds disastrous. Because it has been.
Whether or not his ‘legs have gone’ (whatever that means) it’s clear that at some point, the Brazilian’s abilities were going to fall off a cliff. Outrageous money thrown down the drain. Textbook United.
His sudden absence from the FA Cup squad suggests that his days in Manchester might be numbered. Watch this space.
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12. Mason Mount
Putting Mount this low after just one season might seem harsh – and it’s through little fault of his own – but we can only ran him on what we’ve seen.
He set United back £60million in a summer where their budget was already tight and has featured 19 times, playing just 753 minutes ahead of the FA Cup final. Injuries or not, for a player who fans still aren’t sure where he actually fits into the XI when fully fit, that’s unacceptable.
To make matters worse, if United would’ve showed an ounce of patience and nouse, they could’ve picked him up for free this summer.
11. Wout Weghorst
Expectations can’t ever have been too high for a striker who only managed two goals in 20 games for a relegated Burnley side and had been in exile in the Turkish Super Lig, so we’ll go easy on Weghorst.
Brought in halfway through the 2022-23 season after United thought they could rely on Anthony Martial to stay fit (first mistake) Weghorst was about the only striker they could get in for virtually nothing in January, and his quality reflected that.
10. Altay Bayindir
The Turkish stopper is another difficult one to judge, but a player we do have a degree of sympathy for given that he probably thought he had a chance of displacing Andre Onana while he was away at the Africa Cup of Nations – especially after the shaky start he endured.
Bayindir has played just once in his first season as a United player, with Ten Hag preferring to keep Onana for as long as possible before letting him go to AFCON. There’s a chance the Turkish stopper leaves after just one season in search of first-team football. An unfortunate situation.
9. Sergio Reguilon
Should United be picking up Tottenham’s offcuts? Probably not. Should they have injury-proofed their left-back position more? Absolutely. Is that Reguilon’s fault? Not really.
The Spanish full-back was loaned in at the death in the summer of 2023, but was sent back to Spurs in January having made just 12 appearances for United.
The club were under the impression that they wouldn’t need him when Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia returned to fitness.
The catch? They never did. Probably should’ve kept Reguilon around.
8. Sofyan Amrabat
With the bulk of United’s summer budget spent on Mason Mount – a square peg in a round hole and an injured one at that – his £60million signing still didn’t address the fact that they needed cover for Casemiro in defensive midfield.
They signed Amrabat on loan from Fiorentina for the 2023-24 season with an option to buy, but the Moroccan has barely been given an extended run in the side and has flattered to deceive when he has played.
Not bad, not great. Will leave without much fuss.
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7. Marcel Sabitzer
Another loanee to plug a gap in midfield, Sabitzer joined United in 2023 and made a solid enough account for himself in spells, but wasn’t much more influential than Amrabat was.
Scored a brace against Sevilla in the Europa League which looked set to fire United to the semi-final, only for Ten Hag’s side to capitulate. United passed on signing him permanently and now he’s in the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund.
6. Tyrell Malacia
There is a good chance that Malacia never actually signed for United in 2022 and that he is instead merely a figment of all our imaginations, considering he’s vanished with a mystery injury.
We’ve not seen Malacia in action since United’s final Premier League game of 2022-23 and Ten Hag recently revealed that he’s been unable to train all season.
It sounds concerning, but he actually only cost United £13million and did look like a bargain when he was fit.
If he can recover next season – and that’s a big if right now – then Ten Hag’s first signing for the club can still represent a success.
5. Andre Onana
Ripping the plaster off and replacing David de Gea was the right thing to do and, despite a shaky start, we’re confident in saying Onana has finished the season strongly for United and is – just about – a net positive.
It took him until after AFCON to settle in and his shaky start to life played a large part in United’s group-stage exit from the Champions League.
But he’s managed to wipe out the errors and we’ve seen glimpses of that more aggressive approach off the line and with the ball at his feet.
There is still plenty of room for the Cameroonian to improve if he wishes to be United’s number one long-term, but all things considered, we back the 28-year-old to step up next season.
4. Christian Eriksen
Much has been made of Eriksen’s decline in 2023-24, making just 12 Premier League starts in his second season as a United player with his influence waning on the side.
When they snapped him up on a free transfer ahead of the 2022-23 season, though, his signing proved to be a masterstroke. Ten Hag relied heavily on the Dane who was arguably United’s most important player in midfield, while playing out of position as a deep-lying playmaker.
Whatever happens this summer, Eriksen’s short but sweet impact cannot be understated. Without him, United’s 2022-23 season would’ve looked much different – for the worse.
3. Rasmus Hojlund
He’s not been without his critics and perhaps rightly so after signing for £72million, but Hojlund has been thrown in at the deep end for the most scrutinised club in the world and tasked with fixing a position that no striker has been able to do since Zlatan Ibrahimovic did – for one season.
The young Danish forward arrived injured having only signed for Atalanta a year before his big move, playing just 34 games for the club before being snapped up.
A slow start saw him ridiculed for a 15-game wait for a goal, but Hojlund has put together a respectable campaign in a difficult first season, bagging 16 goals in all competitions before the FA Cup final.
Hojlund will need to improve on that tally next season, but the 21-year-old has shown enough to suggest that he can become a truly world class striker under the right conditions.
It’s now up to United to provide those conditions and take some of the pressure off their young forward.
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2. Jonny Evans
The plot twist of the century, nobody expected Evans – who was deemed surplus to requirements by United in 2015 – to be the man who’s held their season together at times in 2023-24.
Signed on a free transfer after returning to the club initially to maintain fitness, the 36-year-old ended up featuring 29 times in all competitions, putting in brilliant performances home and away that have often saved Ten Hag’s bacon, stepping up to combat injury and inconsistency.
It’s a rather damning indictment of the state of United that they’ve had to rely on him so much, but it’s also a testament to just how much Evans has improved since leaving the club for the first time.
1. Lisandro Martinez
United fans have been in love with Martinez virtually from the moment he signed and for good reason. The Argentine combines technical excellence with supreme physicality and an infectious mentality.
An injury suffered in the Sevilla draw that Sabitzer scored his brace in has continued to plague him, but when fully fit, he’s arguably United’s best and most important player alongside Bruno Fernandes.
The Red Devils look an entirely different team with Martinez in the side and their drop-off without him this season is a clear demonstration of that influence.
He demonstrated what a player he is, and what might’ve been this season, with another defensive masterclass on his return from injury in the FA Cup final.
No matter who the manager is next season, the club desperately needs him to recover properly and rediscover his best form.