Manchester United have become known to overpay for talent over the years, with plenty of those signings failing to perform.
This has been evident right up until this season, with the likes of £82m Antony and £73m Jadon Sancho being recent examples of that.
However, it hasn’t been just the incomings that have been an issue at the club, with the Red Devils often failing to recoup their money via sales.
That said, there have been scenarios where United have even profited on players, with one former Red being sold for £30m in 2021 and now actually worth less than marmite figure Harry Maguire.
Harry Maguire’s market value in 2024
In 2019, Maguire moved to Man United from Leicester City for a world-record fee for a defender, costing the club £80m.
#1 Harry Maguire
Man Utd
£80m
#2 Josko Gvardiol
Man City
£77m
#3 Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool
£75m
#4 Wesley Fofana
Chelsea
£75m
#5 Matthijs de Ligt
Juventus
£68m
In his first season, the England international was a constant figure in the starting lineup, starting every game and commanding the defence to 13 clean sheets in the Premier League.
However, the number five has endured a difficult spell over the past few seasons, starting just eight league matches in Erik ten Hag’s debut campaign.
That said, Maguire has seemingly revived his United career to an extent this term, starting 13 games and winning the Premier League Player of the Month award for December.
Despite this upturn in form, according to Transfermarkt, Maguire is now worth just £17m, which is a significant loss on United’s end.
That's unlike one former United player who the club played a blinder on.
Daniel James' transfer value in 2024
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer began his reign as Man United manager by making Daniel James his first signing, which cost £15m in the same summer that Maguire joined the club.
The Welsh winger signed for the Red Devils from Swansea City, and life in Manchester couldn’t have started any better, scoring in three of his first four matches.
The rapid attacker would only spend two seasons at Old Trafford after starting just 11 Premier League games in his second campaign, moving to huge rival Leeds United in a deal worth £30m.
During the 2021/22 season, James made 34 appearances in the top flight for Leeds, scoring four goals and providing five assists, but he spent last season on loan at Fulham.
The former Red Devil is now enjoying his football in the Championship, where he is helping Leeds charge towards promotion with 11 goals and seven assists so far, but he’s still valued less than Maguire, with Transfermarkt estimating his worth to be £12m.
Tom Heaton
£213k
Jonny Evans
£1.7m
Shola Shoretire
£3.4m
Willy Kambwala
£4.2m
Christian Eriksen
£8.5m
Anthony Martial
£8.5m
As you can see, this would put him among the least valued players in Ten Hag’s side if he were still at the club, while also being £5m less than Maguire.
While the signing of Maguire has been a complete disaster for the club, the business behind James' has been somewhat of a success.
Selling the 26-year-old to Leeds in 2021 looks to have been a masterclass by United, especially considering they doubled their money on the attacker, and today's estimated value of James just further supports that the Red Devils made the correct decision three years ago.
