Manchester United find themselves at arguably the lowest point in the club’s recent history. Much-maligned manager Ruben Amorim is seemingly unable to inspire any hope at Old Trafford, even after spending a small fortune to revamp his front line with the additions of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, and Bryan Mbuemo. The Red Devils still sit in tenth place in the Premier League table, following on from their 40-year low finish of 15th last term.
In fact, their plight has been so bad that online betting sites now consider United more likely to finish in the relegation zone than to win the title, an unthinkable position under their iconic former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. United are currently a 33/1 shot to suffer relegation to the Championship, while they are considered an 80/1 outsider to win the Premier League. Using online tools that calculate parlay odds shows that a £10 bet on the former of those options would pay £330, while the same wager on the latter would pay a mighty £800, making the selection well over twice as likely. These kinds of calculators really clarify what an outcome’s chances are, making it easier for fans to assess the current climate.
But while the Red Devils have struggled in the last couple of years, some players that the club deemed flops have managed to leave Old Trafford and enjoy a new lease of life. Here are three of them.
Antony
Under Ruben Amorim’s fizzling regime, Antony became football’s most expensive outcast at Old Trafford, exiled from first-team training as United looked to offload the £80m man as quickly as possible. Many wrote him off as yet another cautionary footnote in United’s recent decline, but reset the narrative to January, and the numbers paint a defiant portrait.
A loan move to Real Betis saw Antony rack up nine goals and five assists as he rejuvenated the Los Verdiblancos, leading them to the Conference League final. But statistics do little justice to the urgency and electricity the former Ajax man has brought to the Benito Villamarín. Suddenly, his feet moved with the certainty of his Amsterdam prime, carving open defenses at will, arrowing through tight corridors on the right wing, and tormenting La Liga’s sturdiest fullbacks.
By the time Betis shelled out €22 million to make his stay permanent in the summer, Antony was already a hero. Now, he looks to continue leading his new side into the future while ensuring that United rue their decisions surrounding his time in Manchester and his acrimonious exit.
Radamel Falcao
Former Atletico Madrid superstar headed to Old Trafford for just one solitary season. He arrived to much fanfare, but left a year later after finding the net just four times, and with Premier League fans writing the Colombian striker off as someone not good enough for the English top flight.
No South American striker in the modern era arrived with more hype—or departed with less ceremony. Injuries, uncertainty, and a painfully pedestrian spell turned El Tigre into a ghost of the monolith who’d terrorized defenses for Porto and Atléti.
But if there is one constant in Falcao’s career, it is defiance. By 2016-17, back at Monaco, the Colombian was not merely revived—he was resplendent. 22 goals, a Ligue 1 trophy stolen from PSG’s grasp, a place in the Champions League semi-final and, crucially, a redemption arc written in thunderous headers and ice-cold finishes. Throughout his three seasons in the Principality following his two-year hiatus in England, El Tigre thundered home 70 goals in all competitions and struck up a lethal partnership with a teenage Kylian Mbappe before finding new life again in Turkey.
42 goals across stints with Galatasaray, two straight Süper Lig titles, and an ever-swelling highlight reel made clear what European fans had known all along: that Falcao was a special goalscorer. At 38, the journey came full circle—home to Millonarios, the club of his childhood dreams in Bogotá. He scored on debut, closing in on 400 career goals, and proved what every striker hopes but few achieve: the world’s verdicts are not always final.
Memphis Depay
Rare is the United signing greeted with more anticipation than Memphis Depay. Rarer still is one so quickly consigned to the fringes. Seven goals in 53 games—a pale return beneath the shadow of the iconic No. 7 shirt. But for Memphis, failure was the prerequisite to reinvention.
At Lyon, he became the protagonist of his own spectacular saga. 66 goals and 52 assists in 178 games—these are not the figures of a misplaced prospect, but of a creative linchpin. He won over France and Europe with moments of technical virtuosity, including a 2019-20 Champions League run that saw Manchester City fall to his orchestrating brilliance. France Football’s Best Young Player gave way to the Netherlands’ all-time leading scorer by 2025—52 goals, one more than Robin van Persie.
A move to Barcelona delivered the ultimate Spanish prize in 2023. Today, at Corinthians, Memphis combines philanthropy, music, and football—reminding everyone that Old Trafford’s fog was just the prologue, not the whole story.
