Only five players in the matchday squad thrashed by Everton four years ago are still at Manchester United today. Erik ten Hag and co will be hoping to shake off a troubling run of form following the international break, and the Dutchman has a revamped crop of stars with which to do so. To highlight that point, Express Sport takes you through where each one of the 18 squad members back in 2019 is now, including eight players flogged for free…
David de Gea
The first of the Bosman exits, De Gea left Old Trafford after a chaotic contract fiasco in the summer. Despite persistent links to the Saudi Pro League and MLS, the Spaniard, 33, remains without a club.
Victor Lindelof
So often a bit-part player with the Red Devils, Lindelof has started eight of United’s 12 Premier League games this season due to Ten Hag’s injury woes at centre-back.
Phil Jones
The defender was hauled off at half-time in the 4-0 defeat at Goodison, and not much was seen of him beyond the end of the 2018/19 season. Six Premier League appearances in four years preceded his release at Old Trafford, and the 31-year-old is currently unattached.
Chris Smalling
Not always the most popular figure at United, Smalling has enjoyed perhaps the best spell of his career since joining Roma in 2020, and he remains a key member of Jose Mourinho’s squad.
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Diogo Dalot
The Portuguese may have found minutes hard to come by had Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka remained fit this season, but Ten Hag’s limited options mean that Dalot has started 10 times in the Premier League, scoring once.
Paul Pogba
A free transfer exit which stung senior figures at Old Trafford, Pogba divided the fans and incurred a huge financial loss upon re-signing for Juventus six years after his world record £89million move. The Frenchman now faces a lengthy ban in Turin after testing positive for testosterone earlier this year.
Fred
Unceremoniously brought off at the interval by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer against Everto,n along with Jones, Fred spent four more seasons at United before joining Fenerbahce in a £13m deal back in August.
Nemanja Matic
The Serb was part of a wave of free transfer departures in the summer of 2022, but his move to Roma only lasted one season, and he currently earns his living with Rennes in Ligue 1.
Romelu Lukaku
Scarcely missed by United fans despite scoring 42 goals in 96 matches, Lukaku left Old Trafford shortly after being on the wrong end of a battering against Everton, his former club. The Belgian went on to play his best football at Inter Milan, and while he is currently back on the books at Chelsea, an exit seems inevitable after two successive loan spells back to Serie A.
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Marcus Rashford
The defeat at Everton came as Rashford approached the end of his fourth season as a United regular. The 26-year-old is now in the midst of his ninth, although the goals have dried up dramatically since last campaign, when he bagged 30 in all competitions.
Anthony Martial
Barring a brief two-season spell, things have never quite clicked for the Frenchman at Old Trafford. A short loan stint at Sevilla in 2021/22 didn’t do the trick, and he has made 10 goalless appearances in the Premier League this term.
Sergio Romero
The first of the substitutes and the fifth player released, Romero spent six years at United serving as back-up to De Gea. He left to join Venezia in 2021 before returning to his homeland with Boca Juniors.
Ashley Young
When the former United club captain joined Inter Milan for just £1.3m back in 2020, few would have imagined that he had so much left in the tank. Two good seasons in Italy were preceded by two more steady campaigns at Aston Villa, and he is now a regular starter, at 38 years old, with Everton.
Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean’s one-and-a-half-year stay with the Red Devils was nothing short of a disaster. He waived the final two seasons of his mega-money contract to sign for Inter Milan, and he is now back with the Italian giants after spending last season with Marseille.
Juan Mata
A drawn-out spell on the fringes saw Mata run down his contract and join Galatasaray for free last year. The Spaniard’s stint in Turkey was unspectacular, however, and he is now in Japan with Vissel Kobe.
Jesse Lingard
Left untouched on the bench at Goodison alongside Romero, Mata and Sanchez, Lingard was hugely disappointing after leaving United to join Nottingham Forest for free last season, and he remains without a club despite training with Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq earlier this year.
Andreas Pereira
One of only a few players on this list to have kicked on in their career since leaving Old Trafford, Pereira has benefitted from regular game time since joining Fulham last summer and helping Marco Silva’s side to a top-half finish.
Scott McTominay
Another one-club man, McTominay has racked up more than 200 first-team appearances for United since breaking through in 2017. Midfield spots are currently up for grabs under Ten Hag, and his stoppage-time brace against Brentford last month did his chances of becoming a regular starter no harm at all.
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