Sam Johnstone next? Seven players who had a second spell at Man Utd

Manchester United have welcomed back some of their former players with open arms over the years – but it hasn’t always gone to plan.

According to Sky Sports, United are looking to sign goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who came through their academy and won the FA Youth Cup in 2011.

We’ve looked at seven other players who had a second spell at United to see how they fared.

A United academy graduate, Hughes scored 47 goals in 121 appearances under Ron Atkinson before joining Barcelona in the summer of 1986. 

“I was just trying to play my game. I was quite happy. I was centre-forward for Manchester United, for goodness sake,” Hughes told the United podcast in April 2021. 

“And I was coming in here week-in, week-out to play in front of 40,000. I was having a great time, I didn’t particularly want to go anywhere.

“But I think it got to a point where there was an assumption that well, actually, you want to leave, you’re going to leave, so it’s going to happen.”

After failing to make a major impact at Camp Nou, the striker was brought back to Old Trafford by Sir Alex Ferguson in 1988. 

Over the following seven years, he scored another 116 goals and helped the Red Devils win two Premier League titles, two FA Cups, a League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Sealey first joined United on loan from Luton Town in December 1989 and was thrust into the spotlight for the 1990 FA Cup final replay against Crystal Palace after Ferguson dropped Jim Leighton.

Having made several saves to help his side win 1-0, he then made the move permanent and later starred in the 1991 European Cup-Winners’ Cup final victory against Barcelona. 

The goalkeeper rejected a new contract and joined Aston Villa in 1991 before returning to Old Trafford on a free