10 Most Expensive Man Utd Transfer Flops In History

10. Marouane Fellaini (£27.5 Million)

With his gangly frame, raw playing style and massive mop of hair, it was easy to use Marouane Fellaini as a scapegoat during his time at Old Trafford.

To be fair to the Belgium international, he didn't actually do all that bad for Manchester United at times. Was he great? No chance. But he wasn't anywhere near as bad as many would have you believe.

Regardless of whether you were a fan of Fellaini's or not during his time at the Theatre of Dreams, one thing that's for certain is that he was a major flop on a financial level.

A David Moyes panic buy in 2013, it took a reported £27.5 million to bring Fellaini from Everton to the Red Devils. That fee in itself was inflated due to Moyes having missed out on a slew of other midfield targets, but what's most alarming for the finances of United is that when Fellaini eventually moved to SD Luneng this February, it was only for a £10.5 million fee.

Still, some Red Devils fans were just happy to have him out of their club - despite the major financial loss United took on the former Standard Liege player.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 2nd Aug 2019

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