Man Utd's five worst January transfers of all time

Cameron Smith

• 26 Jan 2025 23:30 CST
• 4 min read

Manchester United are still one of the most attractive clubs in world football, but they have made several huge transfer errors over the past few years.

The Red Devils have spent huge fees on a number of players and some of those signings certainly haven’t worked out.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through Man Utd’s five worst January transfers of all time.

READ MORE: Man Utd's five most expensive January transfers of all time

Diego Forlan - €11m (from Independiente, 2002)

Diego Forlan was rated as one of South America’s most promising young forwards during his time at Independiente, however he was unable to make a huge impact at Man Utd.

He played a back-up role to Ruud van Nistelrooy for the majority of his career at Old Trafford and amassed just 17 goals in 98 senior games for the club.

Forlan subsequently joined Villarreal for just €3.2m in 2004 and he enjoyed a sublime spell with the Spanish side, which earned him a move to Atletico Madrid.

READ MORE: Man Utd's five best January transfers of all time

Rodrigo Possebon - €3.5m (from SC Internacional, 2008)

Rodrigo Possebon is a name that most Man Utd fans will have completely forgotten.

The former Italy U20 international moved to Old Trafford from SC Internacional for €3.5m in 2008, but he only made eight first-team appearances for the Red Devils.

Possebon joined Braga on loan in July 2009 and his spell at Man Utd ended when he signed for Santos on a free transfer in 2010.

Zoran Tosic - €7m (from Partizan Belgrade, 2009)

Zoran Tosic to Man Utd was an extremely bizarre transfer and it’s not surprising that he was never able to become a key player for the Red Devils.

Tosic arrived for the fairly lofty price of €7m in 2009, but he racked up just 84 minutes of action across only five appearances for Man Utd.

He joined FC Koln on loan in January 2010, before being sold to CSKA Moscow.

Wilfried Zaha - €11.8m (from Crystal Palace, 2013)

Wilfried Zaha was the final signing of Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure at Man Utd, however he was never able to establish himself at Old Trafford.

Zaha was loaned straight back to Crystal Palace following confirmation of his move to Man Utd, but he only made four appearances for the club and he was loaned to Cardiff in January 2014.

A loan move back to Palace subsequently followed, before the Selhurst Park outfit made the deal permanent for just €3.8m in February 2015.

Alexis Sanchez - €34m (from Arsenal, 2018)

Alexis Sanchez was widely expected to join Manchester City in 2018, but Pep Guardiola’s side withdrew their interest and Man Utd sealed a shock swap deal agreement with Arsenal.

Sanchez joined the Red Devils for a fee of €34m, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan moved in the opposite direction for the same price.

The Chile legend was a star at Arsenal, but he failed to perform at Man Utd and scored just five goals in 45 appearances for the club. Sanchez left Old Trafford to join Inter Milan on loan in 2019, and the deal became permanent the following year.