The January transfer window is almost here, and Manchester United are plotting ahead to try and improve the squad.
Money is available for Manchester United to spend in the upcoming January transfer window. But in recent years, the club have been reluctant spenders.
In the last three January transfer windows, United have spent a combined £28 million on new players.
United’s biggest ever January signing was Bruno Fernandes at £47 million plus add-ons, back in 2020.
And while Fernandes has been an unequivocal success, United’s best ever January signing cost just £7 million.
Let’s take a look through our top five…
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The TOP THREE make it into our XI
5) Louis Saha
Louis Saha joined Manchester United from Fulham in the 2004 transfer window for £12 million, and he made an instant impact.
Saha helped provide essential cover for Ruud van Nistelrooy and went on to outlast the Dutchman.
By 2006, Saha was picked ahead of Van Nistelrooy in the League Cup Final, and scored at Cardiff in a 4-0 win over Wigan.
The Frenchman played an important role in United’s 2006/07 title success, and his career at the club could have been so much better if not for injuries.
4) Juan Mata
Juan Mata was an odd signing in 2014, with Manchester United bringing him in without a clear idea of how he would fit into the starting XI.
Mata was a gift to then-manager David Moyes, with Ed Woodward trying to make amends for a disastrous summer window.
Despite all this, and Moyes’s inevitable sacking, Mata went on to enjoy a very respectable career at the club during some of the worst years in the club’s recent history.
Mata’s highlight was scoring an equalising goal at Wembley in the 2016 FA Cup Final, that set the Red Devils up for a 2-1 win.
The Spaniard cost £37 million and scored 51 goals in 285 appearances for the club.
3) Bruno Fernandes
Bruno Fernandes is in elite history as one of only 23 players in Manchester United history to score more than 100 goals for the club. And he is one of just four midfielders on the list.
Fernandes has led United to cup success, captaining the team while scoring goals and creating goals for fun.
United paid £47 million and then-some to sign Fernandes, and it is money well spent. He is one of the club’s best players of the post-Ferguson era – arguably the very best.
No player has scored more goals for United in the 2020s than Fernandes, and there is a very strong argument for him to be number one on this list.
2) Patrice Evra
Manchester United’s move for Patrice Evra will go down as one of the all-time Premier League bargains.
For all the mid-2000s gambles on Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba that did not pay off, the £5 million spent on Patrice Evra was a complete success.
After a little bit of a shaky start, Evra secured his place as a guaranteed Manchester United starter, and within two years he was winning the Champions League.
Evra is now regarded as one of Manchester United’s best ever left-backs, and played a role in five Premier League title wins while playing 379 games for the club.
Who do YOU think is Man Utd’s best January signing ever? Would you change the order?
Who else should be on this list?
1) Nemanja Vidic
Only one man can top Patrice Evra’s impact, and that is the player who signed for United in the same 2006 transfer window, Nemanja Vidic.
Vidic established himself as one of Manchester United’s best ever centre-backs, matching Evra for team accolades, while earning his own individual success.
The dominant Serbian managed to win the Premier League Player of the Year Award twice, unprecedented for a defender.
Vidic remarkably cost just £7 million, and it is quite possible that this combination of quality, impact, and bargain transfer fee will never be beaten.
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