The Manchester United team was stretched to the limit against Tottenham Hotspur and the club can be tempted to consider signing free agents.
United is not the only club that struggles with injuries as the final phase of the season approaches. Arsenal was forced to fill Mikel Merino during the weekend as an improvised number nine against Leicester City when the Spanish midfielder appeared with a brace.
Although the problem of the Gunners around their front line, United -Baas Ruben Amorim was forced to name a bank consisting of Victor Lindelof and eight Academy -voorzicht against Spurs on Sunday. Their 1-0 defeat against Spurs leaves United 15th in the Premier League table.
However, their defeat list could force United to find creative ways to strengthen their team. Mirror Football looks back on some of the most bold free transfers from UNTED.
Michael Owen
Michael Owen shocked the football world by signing for United after the expiry of his Newcastle contract in 2009. The former Liverpool hero had won the 2001 Ballon d'Or during his time on Merseyside but burned bridges with many fans by signing a two-year-old By signing for two years with their bitter rivals. Ferguson who handed Owen the famous number seven of the club, further rubbed salt into the wound.
The then 29-year-old striker had difficulty recapturing his best form since he left Anfield and had had the last season relegation in Newcastle. Nevertheless, Owen still retained his goals.
The ex-England Voorwaarts scored a memorable 4-3 winner against Manchester City and also scored when United Aston Villa defeated in the 2010 League Cup final. After his impressive debut season, Owen appeared enough to earn the medal from a Premier League winner in 2011, but saw his playing time decrease before he left United in 2012. He scored 17 goals in 52 performances for the club.
Victor Valdes
A decade ago, United made a statement by bringing in Barcelona icon Victor Valdes as a backup of David de Gea. The keeper had without a club without a club for a few months when he recovered from a knee injury after leaving Barcelona, so that an 18 -month deal with United was finally written in January 2015.
Valdes won six La Liga titles and three Champions League trophies with his boys' club and knew United Baas Lous van Gaal from his time in Camp Nou. After completing his knee injury at United, the 32-year-old Valdes was happy to compete with the GEA and made his first team debut in May.
However, Valdes was later placed on the transfer list after it was reported that he had refused to play in a reserve game. The Spain International only made two performances for the club before he came to Standard Luik in January 2016 and later signed for newly promoted Middlesbrough on a free transfer.
Paul Scholes
One of the most remarkable signing sessions of the historical term of office of Sir Alex Ferguson as a manager retired Paul Scholes. The midfielder hung up his boots at the end of the 2010/11 season, but made a surprising return and appeared as a replacement in a FA Cup win over Manchester City in January 2012.
The return of Scholes was announced only an hour before the Manchester Derby when United continued to deal with an injury crisis, with Darren Fletcher and Tom Cleverley on the sidelines. Ferguson believed that Scholes had retired too quickly and he had been proven precisely because the midfielder made 21 performances of that period.
Scholes signed a contract extension and was part of the United Squad who won the Premier League in the last season of Ferguson before retiring for the second time.
Edinson Cavani
United signed former PSG icon Edinson Cavani on the Deadline Day of the Transfer in October 2020, a few months after leaving the French club. The then-33-year-old had become PSG's top scorer during his seven-year-old Stint in Paris and scored 200 goals in 301 performances.
Upon his arrival in Old Trafford, Cavani received the prestigious number seven and would have hoped to emulate his former teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic's immediate impact on the club a few years earlier. Cavani scored 17 goals in his debut season when the side of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finished 2nd in the Premier League and the Europa League final lost on punishment.
Unfortunately for Cavani, who had extended his contract in May 2021, United did not succeed in that momentum when Solskjaer was replaced by interim boss Ralf Rangnick in December. The Uruguayan striker had given up his number seven shirt to a recurring Cristiano Ronaldo and saw his playing time decreased considerably before leaving the club in the summer of 2022.
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