The last five Man United managers’ first signings – and how they fared

After impressing at Feyenoord, Tyrell Malacia has become the first signing of the Erik ten Hag era at Manchester United.

But Ten Hag’s predecessors at Old Trafford have often struggled when making their first purchase in the transfer market.

We’ve looked back at the last five permanent United managers and their first signings to see how those players fared. Note: we’ve not included any players that initially played for the reserves of the academy.

After taking over at United in 1986, Alex Ferguson’s first move to refashion his squad was the £250,000 signing of Anderson from Arsenal.

“I had a chance to stay at the Arsenal,” Anderson told the United podcast. “I had a contract. But he [Ferguson] convinced me when I went up to see him that he was driven and he wanted to make United great again so I wanted to be part of that. So the driving force behind it was always him.”

The defender, who was briefly on United’s books as a teenager, made 69 appearances for the club and used his experience to help guide the younger players. 

But he began to lose his place in the side during 1989-90 and was left out of the matchday squad for the FA Cup final win as midfielder Paul Ince filled in at right-back.

Ferguson’s signing of Denis Irwin marked the end of his time at United, and he joined Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer in January 1991.

Despite the fact that United won the Premier League title in Ferguson’s final season, David Moyes knew that he needed to make some first-team signings in the summer of 2013.

But moves for Cesc Fabregas, Gareth Bale, Thiago Alcantara and Leighton Baines all failed to materialise during a difficult transfer window.

It looked like they weren’t going to sign anybody at all until Moyes hit the panic