7 players whose careers dipped after joining Manchester United
A spell at Manchester United, one of the biggest football clubs in the world, can make or break your career. Look at Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo as examples of the former. While Cantona became one of the all-time Premier League greats in the few seasons he spent at Manchester United, Ronaldo began his journey of becoming possibly the greatest footballer ever at Old Trafford.
Sadly, there are enough examples of the latter aspect too. With Manchester United hitting the doldrums in recent times after occupying the zenith of the English game, many big-time recent signings such as Alexis Sanchez have seen their games hugely dip after joining the club.
Seven players whose careers dipped after joining Manchester United
Even during the glorious reign of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, several footballers who arrived at Manchester United were expected to add to the club's legacy but never got going before seeing their promising careers fizzle away. In this article, we will take a look at seven such footballers.
#7 Eric Djemba-Djemba
Not many had heard of the Cameroonian when Sir Alex Ferguson bought him from Nantes. The Manchester United gaffer expected Eric Djemba-Djemba to eventually fill the giant boots of Roy Keane. It is safe to say now that that didn't exactly happen during Djemba-Djemba's 18-month stay at Manchester United.
He scored only twice for the club and often got stick for his overly physical approach. He played 39 times for Manchester United before being shipped off to Aston Villa where he only played 11 games. Djemba-Djemba then became the proverbial football journeyman, and in 2016, he was signed by a Swiss fifth-tier club.
#6 Mark Bosnich
Unlike Djemba-Djemba, Mark Bosnich had a proven Premier League track record when he arrived at Old Trafford as a replacement for the great Peter Schemeichel.
Bosnich had spent a steady seven years at Aston Villa and had already spent a short spell at Manchester United early in his career. However, he proved to be a failure at United and soon fell down the pecking order at the club, making only 35 appearances. Sir Alex Ferguson later castigated the player in the former's autobiography.
Bosnich's career went horribly downhill post Manchester United. He failed a drugs test at Chelsea and got banned from the game. Later Bosnich developed a drug addiction. He did make a comeback, but he was never the same footballer after Manchester United again.