Manchester United spent big, around £207m to be exact, recruiting a brand-new front three this summer, so how are they getting on?
Well, Bryan Mbeumo scored against both Grimsby Town and Burnley in August, albeit his missed penalty that decided the EFL Cup tie at Blundell Park is what will live longest in the memory.
Meantime, Benjamin Šeško has scored in the last two matches, opening his account at Brentford before bagging his first at Old Trafford during Saturday’s victory over Sunderland.
Thus, Matheus Cunha is the only member of the trio yet to score this season, although the Red Devils’ next fixture, an away game against Liverpool at Anfield, would be a good time to change that fact.
Elsewhere, the phenomenon of players leaving Manchester United and thriving elsewhere is nothing new, but even a forward described as the “worst player” in the club’s entire history is outscoring the Šeško, Mbeumo and Cunha trident so far this season.
Man United alumni lighting it up elsewhere
As a society we’ve all become accustomed to the idea of players revitalising their careers by leaving Old Trafford.
Scott McTominay is the prime example of this, scoring 13 goals for Napoli last season, the key man as the Partenopei won only their fourth Scudetto, named Serie A’s player of the year.
This summer, the Scotland international has been joined by Rasmus Højlund at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona who, after only scoring four Premier League goals throughout the entirety of last season, has bagged four in just six games for Napoli, notching a Champions League brace against Sporting, before bagging the winner against Genoa last Sunday.
Elsewhere, after scoring nine times during his short loan spell, Antony made his move to Real Betis permanent on deadline day, bagging his first of the season as los Verdiblancos held Nottingham Forest to a 2-2 draw at the Cartuja in the Europa League.
The Brazilian scored just 12 times in 96 appearances for the Red Devils, but has ten in 31 for Betis.
There are countless other players we could have cited for whom leaving Manchester United was the best career decision they’ve ever made, but one in particular, you may have completely forgotten about, is still scoring at a high level at the age of 33.
Manchester United’s worst-ever attacker is now thriving
Let’s all enter our metaphorical DeLoreans and time travel back to November 2022.
The World Cup is about to begin in Qatar while, and this feels unthinkable now, Manchester United under Erik ten Hag were in a title race, going on to finish third that season with 75 points. For comparison, their 58 most recent Premier League matches have yielded just 68 points.
However, all was not well because, having been sidelined by Ten Hag, Cristiano Ronaldo made it clear that he felt “betrayed” and would leave the club “with immediate effect”.
Thus, in the January transfer window, the Red Devils desperately needed a new striker, but the Glazers said they simply did not have the funds available to make a permanent signing.
So, a creative solution was found, with Man United paying a reported fee of £2.6m to end Wout Weghorst’s loan move from Burnley to Beşiktaş and bring him to Old Trafford instead.
The Netherlands international had scored nine times in just 18 appearances for the İstanbul-based giants, but did not really bring that form to England, scoring only twice for United, on target against Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup and Real Betis in the Europa League.
Wout Weghorst
Thus, onlookers were not impressed, with Jamie Redknapp, speaking on Sky Sports, describing him as simply “not good enough”, while Richard Keys asserted that he is the ‘worst player I’ve ever seen in a [Manchester] United jersey’.
After finally leaving Burnley, Weghorst returned to the Netherlands by joining Ajax in August 2024.
He scored 11 goals during his first season in Amsterdam, while he has started the new Eredivisie season on fire, netting five times already, including a brace against Sparta Rotterdam at Het Kasteel on Saturday.
This means, to date, he has scored more goals than Mbeumo, Cunha and Šeško combined to start the new campaign.
Does this mean Manchester United should have kept hold of Weghorst?
Well, probably not no, but it is further evidence that the curse of players leaving the club and thriving elsewhere is real.
