Following confirmation that Raphael Varane will leave Manchester United at the end of the season, here are five FIFA World Cup winners who arguably joined the Red Devils after their peak.
Raphael Varane - 2018 World Cup winner
It was announced on Tuesday afternoon that Varane will leave United as a free agent at the end of the season after three seasons at the club. The 31-year-old arrived in Manchester from Real Madrid in August 2021, in a deal worth €40 million (R795 million). Given that he spent an impressive 10 years at Los Blancos and won the 2018 World Cup with France, some high expectations were placed on the centre-back's shoulders as he was anticipated to be an important pillar of strength for a struggling United defence under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but injuries derailed any semblance of consistency for the player. To date, Varane has made 93 appearances for United in all competitions, but has missed 47 matches through injuries in his three seasons at the club, according to Transfermarkt. The Frenchman has thus become rather hard to depend on due to his frequent unavailability.
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Bastian Schweinsteiger - 2014 World Cup winner
The World Cup champion with Germany joined United in 2015, just one year after his major triumph in Brazil. The central midfielder failed to make an impression at Old Trafford in his two seasons, though, spending several months out through injury in his debut campaign in Manchester before he was frozen out of the first team by Jose Mourinho in 2016. Schweinsteiger revealed earlier this month that the Portuguese later apologised for freezing him out.
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"He apologised to me later," the German told FourFourTwo. "I gave him a handshake and said, 'All good, don't worry'. I would've liked to have played more, definitely, and with Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, because with those two players I think we could have achieved much more. But I'm grateful to the supporters for the way they welcomed me when I had the chance to play. My dream was to play at Old Trafford again and it happened after a while, after training on my own, or with the U19s or U17s. Playing at Old Trafford again really meant a lot to me."
With a total of just 35 matches played in two seasons for United, he is ultimately considered by many to be a poor signing by the club.
Juan Mata - 2010 World Cup winner
Perhaps the most contentious inclusion in this list, Mata lasted seven-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford, but his time at the club was far less successful in terms of his individual output and trophies won. The playmaker was part of Spain's World Cup-winning squad in South Africa back in 2010, and that feat was soon followed by a big move to Chelsea in 2011, where he would register 83 goal involvements in 135 matches across two-and-a-half seasons at Stamford Bridge. At United, by contrast, Mata made 94 goal contributions in 285 games in over seven years, marking a steady decline in terms of output while in Manchester. His stock dropped to a point where United released him as a free agent in June 2022.
Victor Valdes - 2010 World Cup winner
After 14 years and 21 major titles with FC Barcelona, Valdes joined the Red Devils in January 2015 as a back-up to then-No. 1 David de Gea. With just two appearances in one year at the club, he was loaned to Standard Liege for three months before being brought back and released to Middlesbrough in July 2016. Given his incredible heights at Barca and several major titles with Spain, Valdes' arrival at Carrington undoubtedly came after the best years of his trophy-laden career.
Kleberson - 2002 World Cup winner
Just 12 months after winning the 2002 showpiece with Brazil, the then-youngster was snapped up by Sir Alex Ferguson, who reportedly went out of his way to sign him, fending off competition from Barcelona. Kleberson was handed a five-year deal by United, and set the club back a lofty €8.6 million (R171 million) from Atletico Paranaense. But things never went according to plan for him at the Theatre of Dreams, as he made just 30 appearances in two years before being sold to Besiktas with three years left on his deal. Speaking to manutd.com in 2021, Kleberson admitted he didn't succeed at the club.
"When the team isn't doing well, it's hard to change your style, I couldn't do it," the Brazilian said. "When I came to Man Utd, I tried to change the player I was, more passes, more aggression, more tackles, but it's too hard and wasn't what my game was about. From 17 to 24 years old, I was playing that fluent Brazilian style, to move the ball quickly and receive it in space. At Man Utd, I had tough moments a lot of the time, I got a lot of injuries and struggled a lot. It was a difficult time, and when you see a lot of evaluation from your performance at top teams, the criticism can be very high, particularly at Man Utd."
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