The Manchester United Flops That Have Starred Since Escaping

The Manchester United Flops That Have Starred Since Escaping

It’s no secret that players who leave Manchester United go on to thrive elsewhere, as this trend has become alarmingly true in recent years. Rasmus Hojlund has become the latest name amongst a catalogue of failed stars at United to succeed after leaving Old Trafford.

We thought it was a suitable time to take a look at other players who have found a new lease of life away from the confinements of Manchester United. However as we don’t have enough minutes in the day to cover everybody, we’ve compiled a shorter list that only scratches the surface.

Rasmus Hojlund

The aforementioned Rasmus Hojlund is the latest United flop to find his form again since leaving the Red Devils. The Danish international has been on fire for both club and country, scoring six goals and providing one assist in his last four games in all competitions.

The 22-year-old netted another goal last night in Denmark’s 3-1 win over Greece, edging his nation closer towards automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup. Not only has he starred on the international stage, but the forward has impressed at his new club, Napoli.

Hojlund has scored four goals in six games across all competitions for the Serie A side so far this season, the same number as his Premier League tally last season. Napoli currently sit top of Serie A, with Hojlund being a main contributor as to why the club have started the campaign so well.

On top of this, the Danish international single-handedly gave Napoli their only Champions League win of the season, scoring a brace in their 2-1 victory over Sporting. It’s fair to say that the former United striker has flourished since leaving the Theatre of Dreams, with his nightmare spell at the club quickly turning into a distant memory.

Rasmus Hojlund's last 4 games for club and country:

⚽️ 6 goals
🅰️ 1 assist

Back to his best so far this season 👏 pic.twitter.com/gMawSuDCxU

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 12, 2025

Scott McTominay

Another former United player that has found success with Napoli is Scott McTominay, with the Scotsman arriving a year before his Danish counterpart.

McTominay joined an illustrious list of names when he graduated from United’s academy, making his senior debut against Arsenal on 7th May 2017. But in the six years he made the cut for the Red Devils' first team, he never fulfilled his full potential, struggling to string performances together.

Managers often mismanaged McTominay, often using him as a No. 6 in a defensive midfield role. However, the Scotsman has always been suited to a more advanced midfield role, utilising his strengths of running into the box, exploiting his aerial ability and physical presence.

This is what Antonio Conte has done down to a tee, allowing the 28-year-old to express himself on the football pitch by giving him this newfound freedom. This hidden potential was locked away at United, suffocated and left to rot year after year.

The stats are there to back it up too, as McTominay scored 13 goals and provided six assists across 36 games for Napoli last season. That was by far the best campaign of his career, with the former United player instantly reaping the benefits of leaving Old Trafford.

Conte has reinvigorated McTominay’s career by giving him the opportunity to play to his strengths, something that was absent during his time at Manchester United. He was ranked in 18th place for the 2025 Ballon d’Or rankings, an achievement that has only become possible thanks to him leaving Manchester United.

• Allowed to leave his boyhood club, Manchester United, to go to Serie A and Napoli 🩵
• Wins the Serie A title in 1st season in Naples 🏆
• Voted 24/25 Serie A MVP 🌟
• Voted #18 in the 2025 Ballon D'Or 🤩

What a year for Scott McTominay. pic.twitter.com/nJfiGePfAa

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 22, 2025

Antony

When Manchester United signed Antony from Ajax for £86m in September 2022, there was naturally a huge amount of pressure heaped onto the winger in the wake of his hefty price tag. He has since turned out to be one of the worst signings in Manchester United’s history, failing to ever justify his enormous transfer fee.

After scoring on his United debut in a 3-1 win over Arsenal, it seemed to be a perfect start to his Manchester United career. However, it only went downhill from here, as the Brazilian international only scored 11 goals across the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, massively underperforming.

Now of course you could argue that a prominent reason behind this is that Erik ten Hag was sacked in October 2024, the sole reason why he was brought to the club in the first place. Antony only made 14 appearances for United that season, showing how other managers didn’t rate the Brazilian winger.

However, for a player with so much promise and potential, there is no real justification as to why you should be underperforming so noticeably. This downturn in performance led to Antony’s loan move to Real Betis in January 2025, giving the Brazilian a chance to rediscover his form.

And that’s exactly what he did, scoring nine goals and providing five assists in just 26 games for the La Liga side. On top of this, Antony helped his side to the 2024/25 Conference League final, where they lost 4-1 to Chelsea, with another former United player in Jadon Sancho getting on the scoresheet!

Antony made the move to Betis permanent at the end of this summer transfer window, with United receiving £21.65m for the winger. A £64.35m loss in transfer fees alone is bad enough, but knowing that the player you’re letting go will most likely perform at his new club has become a far too familiar sight at Manchester United.

So far this season Antony has one goal and one assist across five games in all competitions, with both goal contributions coming in the 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest in the Europa League.

Antony picking up a goal and assist in his first Europa League game for Real Betis 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aVziJi2Dr5

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 24, 2025

Dean Henderson

Dean Henderson was tipped to be the next big thing once David de Gea retired, as the English international was gently bled into the starting XI. With De Gea showing signs of making recurring mistakes, Henderson looked like the number one candidate to replace the Spanish goalkeeper.

Henderson is yet another United academy graduate who failed to make his mark at the Red Devils, with the young goalkeeper being sent out on loan multiple times.

Henderson enjoyed loan spells with clubs across all levels of the EFL, but his most notable stints were with Shrewsbury Town and Sheffield United. The English international earned a chance at being United’s first-choice goalkeeper due to his impressive performances with the Blades.

Henderson helped Sheffield United gain promotion to the Premier League in the 2018/19 season, and spent the following campaign gathering valuable top-flight experience.

The academy graduate then returned to United in the 2020/21 season, playing European football as well as featuring in the Premier League. However, Henderson was never given the chance to fully cement his place as the first-choice goalkeeper, prompting a loan move to Nottingham Forest for the 2022/23 campaign.

Ultimately what could’ve ended up being a prosperous partnership for both parties transpired into a broken relationship. Henderson believed that promises over game time were broken, which halted the amount of progress that he could make.

In August 2023 Henderson made the permanent move to Crystal Palace for £20m and hasn’t looked back since. He quickly pinned down the number one position at the Eagles, and won the FA Cup in the 2024/25 season. The Eagles keeper wasn’t a passenger in the final either, saving Omar Marmoush’s penalty on his way to keeping a clean sheet.

And if that wasn’t enough, he went on to save two penalties in the penalty shootout against Liverpool to win his side the Community Shield.

Dean Henderson saved Omar Marmoush's penalty to help @CPFC win the FA Cup against Man City 🧤

He was the hero once again as he saved two spot kicks as Palace beat Liverpool in a penalty shootout to win the Community Shield 🛡️ pic.twitter.com/1FLqYPs8W0

— Premier League (@premierleague) August 10, 2025