1. Cristiano Ronaldo – £80m (Real Madrid, 2009)
It seems difficult to fathom that a footballer could outgrow Manchester United, especially in the period Ferguson headed the club.
But this was Cristiano Ronaldo’s situation in 2009 when he left the Red Devils in a world record transfer to Real Madrid.
He was already a Ballon d’Or winner by the time he arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu, but he continued to get better, leaving goal scoring records in his wake.
Ronaldo is Real’s greatest ever goal scorer, both in La Liga and the Champions League, and will go down as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
2. Romelu Lukaku – £68m (Inter, 2019)
Few at Manchester United would admit it, including then-manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but the decision to sell Lukaku to Inter was probably a poor one because he was already regaining his form.
The Belgian went on to take Serie A by storm and was key in Inter halting Juventus’ decade-long dominance of Italian football by helping the Nerazzurri win the 2020-21 Scudetto.
Under the correct management, Lukaku could have found his best form at Old Trafford instead of Italy.
He is now back at Inter after an even more ill-fated spell at Chelsea.
Read also: Mbappe: See Why He Has Not Joined Real Madrid
3. Angel Di Maria – £55m (PSG, 2015)
On the face of it, the signing of Di Maria in the summer of 2014 made perfect sense.
He was their record transfer at the time, at £59m, having just helped Real Madrid to the Champions League with a Man of the Match performance in the final.
There were similar issues to Juan Sebastian Veron in that he struggled to adapt to his surroundings, and his house being burgled certainly didn’t help him settle.
But if Louis van Gaal expected Di Maria to lead the team into a new era, he signed the wrong player.
Having played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, he impressed away from the limelight and struggled with the pressure of being the club’s main man.
He was sold to Paris-Saint Germain and now plies his trade with Juventus.
