Manchester United celebrated a fruitful deadline day not just because of Senne Lammens’ signing, but because they managed to offload many unwanted players.
The two most notable of them were Jadon Sancho, who went on loan to Aston Villa, and Antony, who joined Real Betis.
Sancho and Antony are likely to rank close to the top of the list of the worst transfers in Manchester United’s history.
Therefore, it was ironic that a player who was known as one of United’s worst-ever signings also joined a new team on the same day that these two found a new club.
Alexis Sanchez joins Anthony Martial’s former club
At least Antony remained a professional who occasionally provided positive memories to Manchester United supporters, even though his fee hovered over him like a gloomy cloud.
Even if it is a sad conclusion to his stint, Jadon Sancho did have a few moments wearing a United shirt, such as when he scored the goal against Liverpool to begin Erik ten Hag’s tenure at Manchester United.
On the first day, neither of those players showed up at Manchester United and sobbed to their agent, expressing their desire to leave the team and considering terminating their contracts.
Alexis Sanchez, who joined United in a trade in 2018 and left after less than two seasons on enormous salaries, deserves that (dis)honor.
He played twice for Inter permanently after that loan stint, with a stint at Olympique Marseille in between.
His most recent trip was back to Udinese, where he spent two seasons. He consented to sign with Sevilla, one of Anthony Martial’s previous teams, on this deadline day.
Sanchez’s prime is over at age 36, but Sevilla was likely swayed by his background and previous La Liga experience with Barcelona.
Man Utd can’t afford to repeat these three mistakes
In the worst conceivable sense, Antony and Sancho are Alexis Sanchez’s logical heirs.
The trio is an example of the kind of acquisitions Manchester United should steer clear of in the future. Sancho and Sanchez received enormous salaries when their motivation to perform for the team was questioned, but the management panicked and overpaid for Antony.
The latter has already been addressed by Ineos, who will only sign players if they select Manchester United.
Although the early indications are encouraging, the former is still up for debate because a decision on it can only be made with a larger sample size.
The deadline day of the 2025/26 transfer window proved to be extremely poetic for United, with all three of their worst-ever signings moving on.
Two from the club, while one found another club.
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