Manchester United last won the Premier League in 2013 just as their legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson retired after more than a quarter-century in charge.
The Old Trafford club are on their third manager since then and have achieved success in the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League, but have failed to mount a sustained title tilt.
That is despite spending an eye-watering £627.2million on new signings since the summer of 2013 as sanctioned by David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and the current boss, Jose Mourinho.
Manchester United last won the title in 2013, just before Sir Alex Ferguson retired as manager
David Moyes attempted to upholds Ferguson’s standards but lasted only nine months
A handful of these expensive acquisitions have excelled, but the majority have fallen by the wayside and some are no longer at the club.
Left-back Luke Shaw, signed from Southampton for £27m just three years ago, looks like being the latest to be shown the door.
So who has actually offered United value for their investment since Fergie retired? We rate every signing the club has made since the summer of 2013.
Louis van Gaal had two seasons in the Old Trafford hotseat but couldn’t win the league
Jose Mourinho is the latest manager to try and restore the glory days to Old Trafford
2013-2014 SEASON (Manager: David Moyes)
Marouane Fellaini
Signed from Everton, transfer fee £27.5m
The post-Ferguson era at Old Trafford didn’t get off to the best start when ‘Chosen One’ David Moyes failed to sign the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Sami Khedira Ander Herrera, Leighton Baines and Fabio Coentrao in his first summer.
Consequently, the arrival of Fellaini from his old club Everton for an inflated £27.5m fee looked like an act of desperation and it took a very long time for the Belgian to be accepted at the club.
Yet Fellaini remains at Old Trafford, having found his niche under Louis van Gaal and then Jose Mourinho, who really likes his no-nonsense, elbows-first approach to everything.
After taking plenty of flak, Fellaini finally won everyone over. Rating: 7.5/10
Marouane Fellaini isn’t to everybody’s taste but has done a good job for United
Juan Mata
Chelsea, £37.1m
With United struggling in the Premier League, Moyes desperately needed reinforcements in January 2014 and skilful Spanish midfielder Mata was his solution, signed from Chelsea for £37m.
It didn’t take Mata long to demonstrate his class in United colours, picking passes and creating chances, even in Van Gaal’s often pedestrian team.
Mourinho was the man who sold Mata to United and there were concerns they still wouldn’t get on, but they proved unfounded as Mata helped United to EFL Cup and Europa League success.
Mata has been an asset to United ever since he arrived, scoring a number of important goals as well, but you get the impression this could be his last season at the club. 8/10
SEASON TOTAL: £64.6m
Juan Mata arrived during the David Moyes tenure and has become a key player for United
2014-2015 SEASON (Manager: Louis van Gaal)
Ander Herrera
Athletic Bilbao, £32.4m
After the failed Moyes experiment, Van Gaal arrives and spent big trying to shape United in his own image. A year later than planned, they secured the signing of Herrera from Bilbao.
The Spaniard had a reputation for being a metronomic passer in the heart of midfield but it took quite some time to win Van Gaal’s trust, finally settling into the side at the end of the season.
Mourinho had no such doubts and started Herrera regularly in the league last season and his performances were consistently good once he got a run in the team. Indeed, he was United’s Player of the Year.
Herrera remains a reliable player for United to have, offering balance and serving as the go-between from defence to attack. 8/10
Popular figure Ander Herrera continues to play an integral role in United’s midfield
Luke Shaw
Southampton, £27m
Excitement surrounded the signing of teenager Shaw, one of the most promising up-and-coming players in the Premier League who was already established in the Southampton team.
It was hoped that Shaw would play left wing-back for United, fitting nicely into Van Gaal’s favoured style of playing but injuries interrupted his first season at the club.
Shaw was then desperately unlucky to suffer a double leg break following an horrendous tackle by PSV Eindhoven player Hector Moreno, leading to months on the sidelines.
Further injury problems prevented him making a case to Mourinho last season and, over three years on, we still don’t really know what he can do. 5/10
A succession of injuries have prevented the unlucky Luke Shaw from showing his potential
Marcos Rojo
Sporting Lisbon, £16m
Van Gaal believed Argentine Rojo would be the rock-hard presence to secure a United back line that had been worrying leaky under Moyes.
But injury problems prevented him enjoying a sustained run at the heart of the United defence and that misfortune continued into Van Gaal’s second season.
Rojo started to play at his best in the middle of last season, looking resolute as United embarked on a lengthy unbeaten run.
But a cruciate ligament injury suffered in the Europa League quarter-final with Anderlecht curtailed his season, we haven’t seen him since and we’re still wondering if he’ll ever be the next Nemanja Vidic. 6/10
Marcos Rojo tackles Chelsea’s Eden Hazard during last season’s FA Cup tie
Angel di Maria
Real Madrid, £60m
United’s British record purchase of Di Maria from European champions Real Madrid was meant to be the statement signing that would return them to the Premier League pinnacle.
The Argentine, who came to Old Trafford despite there being no European football on offer, never settled in Manchester and flopped miserably. Indeed, he could well be United’s most expensive mistake ever.
Good early season form proved to be misleading as he quickly slipped into the mediocre and seemed to sum up the malaise around Van Gaal’s uninspiring side.
By the end of the season, United were just desperate to cut their losses and Di Maria couldn’t wait to leave. In the end, they did well to recover £44m of his fee from Paris Saint-Germain. 3/10
Angel di Maria endured a thoroughly miserable season at Old Trafford after a £60m signing
Daley Blind
Ajax, £14m
Having performed brilliantly as Holland finished third at the World Cup, it was little wonder wanted to continue working with Blind once he took over at Old Trafford.
Blind’s versatility proved his key attribute, with Van Gaal deploying him as a defensive midfielder, centre-half, left midfielder and left-back during his first season.
Eventually, Blind settled in at centre-back and performed reasonably well. Mourinho started with him there, before Blind shifted out to left-back again.
But the Dutchman does all of this without complaint and has become a valued member of the United squad. 7/10
Daley Blind has shown his value to United time after time by playing in various positions
Victor Valdes
Unattached, free
As a multiple Champions League winner who had played over 500 times for Barcelona, Valdes, signed as a free agent, was a more than capable understudy for David de Gea.
United allowed him to complete his rehabilitation from a knee injury and warm the bench for a season but things went sour when Valdes refused to play in a reserve game and was transfer-listed.
There was no way back and he was finally loaned to Standard Liege before moving to Middlesbrough. 2/10
Goalkeeper Victor Valdes has a pretty miserable time at Old Trafford, playing only twice
Radamel Falcao
Monaco, loan
If the arrival of Di Maria generated excitement for the season ahead, United fan were positively giddy with joy when the club announced they’d loaned Colombia striker Falcao from Monaco on deadline day.
There was the options to sign Falcao permanently for £43.5m if he matched expectations but that was never even considered as the striker – rather like Di Maria – proved a calamitous flop.
He managed just four goals in 29 appearances, never adapted to life in the Premier League and was widely considered as the worst signing of the season.
It’s only since returning to Monaco that Falcao has managed to get his career back on track. 3/10
SEASON TOTAL: £149.4m
Radamel Falcao endured a torrid season on loan at United, scoring just four goals in 29 games
2015-2016 SEASON (Manager: Louis van Gaal)
Memphis Depay
PSV Eindhoven, £25m
After the miserable failure of Di Maria in the iconic United No 7 shirt, the next to wear it was Depay, brought in by Van Gaal after being the best player in the Dutch league the season before.
The swaggering Depay was certainly a cocky character and lived a flashy lifestyle that quickly caught up with him after a succession of anonymous performances on the field.
Depay enjoyed early success at Old Trafford but quickly tailed off and his patchy form seemed to neatly sum up United generally under their Dutch manager.
The winger was damaged goods and Mourinho wanted nothing to do with him – after a few minutes in the early part of the season he was sold to Lyon, where things have picked up again. 3/10
Memphis Depay was another costly failure during Louis van Gaal’s two seasons in charge
Matteo Darmian
Torino, £12.7m
Full of high hopes for Luke Shaw on the left, Van Gaal wanted someone equally capable on the right and Torino’s young Italian Darmian was supposed to be the answer.
He played regularly during his first season, though often out of position as United grappled with a seemingly never-ending injury crisis, though there were some bright and encouraging performances.
As Shaw continued to struggle with injuries, and Mourinho preferring Antonio Valencia on the right, Darmian continued his conversion into a left-back through much of last season.
This time around, we’ve barely seen him and nobody is entirely convinced by what he has to offer even now. 6/10
Matteo Darmian in action during United’s recent Champions League win over Benfica
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Bayern Munich, £6.5m
Adored by Van Gaal during their time together at Bayern, Schweinsteiger came in with the intention of performing the same composed central midfield duties for United.
Sadly, Van Gaal didn’t seem to realise that Schweinsteiger had aged in the meantime and, now in his thirties, was liable to slow United down rather than keep things moving.
He was also injury-prone, and two bad injuries at the end of 2015-16 meant Mourinho didn’t even pause to consider him. Schweinsteiger was sent off to the MLS retirement home. 5/10
Bastian Schweinsteiger was unable to make much of an impact in United’s midfield
Morgan Schneiderlin
Southampton, £25m
Another signing Van Gaal hoped to restructure his midfield around, having performed impressively over half-a-dozen seasons at Southampton.
Schneiderlin featured regularly for United during that campaign, usually deployed as a defensive midfielder shielding the defence with someone more expressive ahead of him.
What’s interesting is that United often lost matches when he was out injured or dropped to the bench but nothing he did was that eye-catching.
Consequently, Mourinho barely noticed his existence when he came in and Schneiderlin was sold on to Everton having completed just one match. 5/10
Morgan Schneiderlin was supposed to solve United’s midfield troubles but didn’t succeed
Sergio Romero
Unattached, free
Following the Valdes debacle, Van Gaal at least had better luck with another free agent goalkeeper in the form of Argentine stopper Romero.
He started the season against a backdrop of concerns that De Gea was going to Real Madrid and acted as an able understudy thereafter with the odd cup appearance thrown in.
Mourinho decided to split the burden and played Romero all the way through United’s victorious Europa League campaign, where he played absolutely superbly. 7/10
Goalkeeper Sergio Romero celebrates United’s Europa League victory last season
Anthony Martial
Monaco, £58m
United were in need of firepower upon their return to the Champions League in 2015-16 and the arrival of teenage hotshot Martial from Monaco in a hideously complicated deal alleviated some, but not all, concerns.
After all, £58m – plus various add-ons – was an awful lot of money to spend on a player who had scored 15 goals in 70 matches for the French club and the signing was unquestionably a gamble by Van Gaal.
His first season was positive, however, and Martial finished as United’s leading goalscorer with 17 in all competitions, beginning with a well-taken goal against Liverpool on debut and a late winner in the FA Cup semi-final with Everton.
With the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the emergence of Marcus Rashford, Martial played fewer minutes last season under Mourinho and only managed eight minutes.
But despite falling further down the pecking order when Romelu Lukaku signed, he remains part of United’s strike force this season, even though he hasn’t exactly taken the Premier League by storm at any point. 7/10
SEASON TOTAL: £127.2m
Anthony Martial scores with composure to settle United’s match with Tottenham recently
2016-2017 SEASON (Manager: Jose Mourinho)
Eric Bailly
Villarreal, £30m
One of Mourinho’s first acts upon succeeding Van Gaal was to tighten up United’s defence with the £30m signing of Ivorian Bailly.
A few weeks sidelined with a knee injury aside, Bailly was one of United’s first-choice centre-halves for the majority of the season and featured prominently in the Europa League run before getting himself suspended for the final.
It’s clear that Mourinho regards Bailly as his No 1 pick again this season and he hasn’t done too much wrong during his time at Old Trafford so far. 8/10
Eric Bailly wins the ball from Swansea’s Andre Ayew during a league match last season
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Paris Saint-Germain, free
Ibrahimovic may have come to Old Trafford on a free transfer but plenty wondered how much you can really expect from a 35-year-old who’d never played in the cut and thrust of the Premier League.
They needn’t have worried – Ibrahimovic enjoyed a magnificent debut season, his 28 goals in all competitions showing a glorious variety and he attained instant legend status at Old Trafford.
It was unfortunate he suffered such a serious knee injury in April and couldn’t be there to win the Europa League, but his return this January will be as good as a big money signing if he picks up where he left off. 9/10
Zlatan Ibrahimovic proved an inspired signing with 28 goals for United last season
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Borussia Dortmund, £27m
As the chief lock-picker in Borussia Dortmund’s exciting team, there was much hoped of Mkhitaryan when he arrived at Manchester United back in the summer of 2016.
There have been some moments of genius, such as his scorpion kick goal against Sunderland, and a run of scoring important goals in United’s Europa League win.
Mkhitaryan started this season brilliantly, with five assists in his opening three Premier League games, but things have tailed off a little since.
The Armenian has made a pretty good start to his Old Trafford career, but United will still be hopeful there’s more to follow. 7.5/10
Henrikh Mkhitaryan plays a pass during United’s defeat to Chelsea at the weekend
Paul Pogba
Juventus, £89m
United really flexed their financial muscles when they broke the world transfer record to sign Pogba, a player they had let go to Juventus four years earlier.
If Van Gaal had Di Maria, then Pogba’s much-heralded arrival was a real statement than Mourinho was about to restore United to their best.
However, it took the Frenchman quite a while to adjust to life in the Premier League and last season didn’t see Pogba running the midfield as he had regularly for Juventus.
There were definite signs this was starting to happen at the opening to the current season until Pogba suffered an untimely hamstring injury that will keep him out for a little while yet. 7.5/10
SEASON TOTAL: £146m
Paul Pogba celebrates his goal in United’s win at Swansea earlier in the season
2017-2018 SEASON (Manager: Jose Mourinho)
Victor Lindelof
Benfica, £30m
Another summer, another defender. This time it was the Swedish centre-back Lindelof, who didn’t come cheap from Benfica.
Although well-established in Portuguese football and with Champions League experience, there were alarm bells ringing about the 23-year-old after some clumsy performances on United’s pre-season tour.
Accordingly, Mourinho held him back from Premier League football and played him in Europe instead, where his ball-playing style is easier to pull off.
The absolute horror show in United’s shock loss to Huddersfield last month showed Mourinho was correct to do this and Lindelof is nowhere near first-choice at the moment. 6/10
Victor Lindelof has made a slightly unsteady start to his career at Old Trafford
Romelu Lukaku
Everton, £75m
Guilty of wasting far too many chances in certain games last season, especially in draws at Old Trafford, United were crying out for a clinical finisher.
And the solution was Lukaku, signed for a whopping sum from Everton, where he had been reliably prolific for four seasons.
Lukaku wasted no time paying back a good chunk of that money, bullying defenders as United made a storming start to the campaign. His return of 10 goals in his first nine games was a new club record.
However, after that bright start, Lukaku has now failed to find the net for United since September 30. 9/10
Romelu Lukaku jumps for joy after scoring for United in their 3-0 win over Basle
Nemanja Matic
Chelsea, £35m
One of his best performers at Chelsea, Mourinho was keen on a reunion with midfield master Matic and United made their move over the summer.
The early signs have been very good, with Matic turning in a series of impressive early season displays and he certainly represents an upgrade on the midfielders Van Gaal signed.
He has played every minute of United’s Premier League and Champions League campaigns so far, which shows how much faith Mourinho has in him. 8.5/10
SEASON TOTAL: £140m
GRAND TOTAL: £627.2m
Nemanja Matic tussles with Chelsea Tiemoue Bakayoko during the match with Chelsea