The best and worst of Erik ten Hag’s 21 Man Utd signings

From Antony and Mason Mount, to Andre Onana and Jonny Evans – recruitment at Man Utd has been inconsistent to say the least

Manchester United have spent in the region of £600 million on players since Erik ten Hag took over in 2022.
That investment has yielded mixed success, with several players for whom large fees were paid not coming close to meeting expectations.
With the news that the Dutchman has now departed the club, Telegraph Sport breaks every signing made in the Ten Hag era.
Erik ten Hag’s first signing as United manager, the seldom seen Netherlands left back has endured an injury plagued career at Old Trafford. A £14.7 million arrival, the 25-year-old has made just 14 Premier League starts in two and a half years with the club, with his frequent absence compounded by the fact Ten Hag has also often been without his only other recognised senior left-back, Luke Shaw. Malacia last played for United in May 2023.Rating: 2/10
Signed on a free transfer after leaving Brentford, the Denmark midfielder has been a useful, cost effective addition who has been one of Ten Hag’s better recruits and often shown up younger, much more expensive signings. But it is indicative of the lack of quality alternative midfield options that Eriksen is still being leaned on so heavily at 32 and more than three years since suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch. United need a long-term replacement who offers similar vision and composure on the ball – and mobility and high energy with it.Rating: 7/10
One of the few better signings under Ten Hag but the Argentina defender has been far from an unqualified success and has much still to prove. He has missed far too many games through a succession of injuries and, more recently, his form has dipped and rashness and mistakes have begun to creep in. At £57 million, he was not cheap either and another example of Ajax successfully lulling United into overpaying. Arsenal stopped their bidding for Martinez at £38 million, unwilling to go anywhere near the fee their Manchester rivals paid.Rating: 7/10
After spending a perverse length of time pursuing Frenkie de Jong, who never had any interest in joining United, the club panicked and splashed a projected £70 million on the ageing Brazil midfielder – a fee Real Madrid would reinvest in Jude Bellingham. Casemiro had told United via his agent that he would “fix it” and, for five months, he helped to do that as Ten Hag’s side overcame a poor start to find form in the Premier League and win the Carabao Cup. But Casemiro’s indiscipline saw him miss far too many games through suspension in his debut season and over the past year his performance level has nosedived spectacularly, with the error strewn Brazilian unable to cope with the pace and intensity of the Premier League any longer. Former Liverpool defender and Telegraph Sport columnist Jamie Carragher, a vocal critic of United’s decision to sign Casemiro, said after the shambolic 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in May that the 32-year-old was finished at the very top level.Rating: 4/10
There is a strong case for Antony being the worst signing in Premier League history and nobody symbolises the warped transfer policy under Ten Hag quite like the Brazil winger. When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was United manager, the club’s scouts valued Antony at around £25 million. In the summer United did sign the player, they set an upper price limit of £55 million – only to ultimately cough up £85 million, which made the former Ajax man the second most expensive signing in the club’s history. They are still paying the price for that extraordinary negligence now. On the pitch, Antony has been an unmitigated disaster. Off it, he took a period of paid leave to fight allegations of domestic abuse made by a former girlfriend. Even Ten Hag eventually lost faith – the player having started just one game this season, and that against League One Barnsley in the Carabao Cup.Rating: 1/10
Signed on loan from Newcastle as cover for David De Gea in Ten Hag’s first season, the Slovakia goalkeeper made just two appearances – both in the Carabao Cup – and was recalled by the Tyneside club four months later.Rating: N/A
With United unable to afford a £44 million move for Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo, who instead joined rivals Liverpool from PSV Eindhoven, Ten Hag instead turned to his compatriot Weghorst as a replacement for the departed Cristiano Ronaldo. A complicated deal saw Weghorst’s loan to Besiktas from Burnley cut short and United paying a £2.5 million fee to secure his services on an emergency six-month loan. The 6ft 6in journeyman striker did not score in 17 Premier League appearances and managed just two goals in 31 games all told, routinely looking out of his depth and nowhere near good enough to lead the line at a club of United’s stature.
Rating: 4/10
Another temporary signing in Ten Hag’s first January in charge, the Austria midfielder made 18 appearances on loan from Bayern Munich, scoring three goals but none in the Premier League. Sabitzer filled a hole without making a last impression. He ended up joining Borussia Dortmund the following summer and made Uefa’s Champions League team of the season last season after helping the German club to the final.Rating: 5/10
The former England goalkeeper was drafted in as a replacement for Dubravka in January 2023 and did not make an appearance during a six-month loan spell from Crystal Palace.Rating: N/A
United were supposed to have moved on from the days of signing square pegs in round holes – and players with troubling injury records – but evidently not. Mount won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2020/21 – and named the club’s player of the year that season and the following year – playing predominantly off the right of a front three. Ten Hag signed him as a No. 8 midfielder. Suffice to say it has not worked out. Mount has seldom been fit – perhaps not too much of a surprise given how many games he missed in his final season with Chelsea – and has looked lost and shorn of confidence when he has played. He has made just seven Premier League starts for United. The £60 million United directed on the one time England midfielder – and the gross overspend on Antony – could have been used to fund a bid for England striker Harry Kane.Rating: 2/10
United paid Inter Milan £47.2 million for Onana in July last year as De Gea’s replacement, 12 months after he was available on a free transfer from Ten Hag’s former club Ajax. The Cameroon goalkeeper endured a nightmare first six months at Old Trafford, with a series of blunders contributing to the club exiting the Champions League after finishing bottom of their group. Since then, Onana has turned around his form to become one of the few reliable and consistent performers in Ten Hag’s team, even if United’s structural issues and struggles to play out from the back have meant they have not been able to make the most of the goalkeeper’s ability with his feet. United’s best performer this season.Rating: 7/10
Having lacked the ambition (and United say funds) to sign Kane, who instead joined Bayern Munich from Spurs for £100m, the club instead opted to commit an eye-watering £72 million on the young and completely unproven Hojlund. Twelve months earlier, he had cost Atalanta just £15 million, with his near five fold price increase coming despite scoring just nine Serie A goals in 32 appearances. The burden placed on the then 20-year-old Denmark striker to lead the line with only the perennially injured misfit Anthony Martial as support was a terrible misjudgement by United. Hojlund did fairly well in a tough debut campaign, scoring 15 goals albeit having to wait until Boxing Day for his first Premier League goal, but he missed the first two months of this season with a hamstring injury and is again carrying a heavy burden in attack with the club still without a proven striker.Rating: 6/10
Criminally sold by Louis van Gaal to West Bromwich Albion for £8 million in 2015, Evans went on to underline the folly of that decision over the next eight years before leaving Leicester as a free agent. He began training with United that summer as something of a favour from his old club as he explored his options but Ten Hag was so impressed by what he saw that he offered the veteran Northern Ireland centre-back a new deal. With United ravaged by injury that season, Evans played more than he could have imagined but was invariably the club’s best defender when he did. He underlined his character and willingness to take one for the team in the 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in May when he was nowhere near fit enough to play and had failed fitness tests but went out anyway. Awarded a one-year extension this summer, the 36-year-old was United’s man of the match in the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa. His performances have shamed plenty of others.Rating: 7/10
Signed from Fenerbahce for £4.3 million as cover for Onana, the Turkey goalkeeper’s only appearance for United was in a 4-2 FA Cup win over Newport County.Rating: N/A
United committed a huge fee of £8.5 million to sign Amrabat on loan from Fiorentina for a season but the Morocco midfielder struggled badly with the pace and intensity of English football. He improved in the final weeks of the season when injuries and the poor form of others saw him given a chance and played well at Wembley when United pulled off a huge shock to beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final. United ultimately opted against taking up an option to sign Amrabat permanently and he instead joined Fenerbahce on loan this summer.Rating: 4/10
Signed as emergency loan cover at left back due to injuries to Shaw and Malacia, Reguilon made seven starts before returning to Tottenham last January after United triggered a break clause.Rating: 4/10
United had made signing a striker a priority this summer after another season when goals were extremely hard to come by under Ten Hag. But rather than elect for a more proven Premier League entity such as Ivan Toney, United again went down the younger, inexperienced route 12 months after buying Hojlund and brought Zirkzee from Bologna for £36.5 million. The Netherlands striker – who is not a regular starter for his country – scored as a substitute on his United debut in the opening Premier League win over Fulham but has otherwise looked well off the pace. He has one goal in 13 games.Rating: 2/10
Despite interest from Real Madrid, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain, United blew their rivals out of the water by paying £59 million for the highly rated 18-year-old French defender. But Yoro was ruled out for three months after suffering a fractured metatarsal during a pre-season game against Arsenal in the US and has yet to make his competitive debut for the club.Rating: N/A
United can only hope things get better for the Netherlands defender after a wretched start to his Old Trafford career. After shocking performances in the 3-0 defeat to Spurs and 3-3 draw against Porto, the £42 million signing from Bayern Munich was dropped for the game against Aston Villa. Positionally, he has been all over the place and his struggles to smell danger and nervousness have been worrying to see. Traditionally, Bayern – like Real Madrid – simply do not sell their best players but United continue to make a habit of signing both clubs’ cast offs.Rating: 3/10
With Aaron Wan-Bissaka joining West Ham for around £15m and United needing a replacement who ideally offered more going forward, the club reinvested that money in the Morocco right back from Bayern. He has had a mixed start at Old Trafford, impressing in early games before finding the going much tougher against the likes of Liverpool, Spurs and Porto.Rating: 5/10
With United unable to shift Casemiro, they sold Scott McTominay to Napoli to help fund a £50.4 million move for Ugarte. Paris Saint-Germain had doubts about the quality of Ugarte’s passing and sanctioned his sale only 12 months after his arrival from Sporting Lisbon and the Uruguayan has so far made an inauspicious start at Old Trafford. He looked hesitant and off the pace in the 3-0 drubbing by Tottenham and did not get off the bench in the two games that followed. He was much improved in the 1-1 draw against Fenerbahce but United will hope there are big improvements to come in the man they identified for the critical No. 6 role.Rating: 4/10