Man Utd’s best free transfers of all time

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 19 Dec 2023 11:19 GMT
• 5 min read

Manchester United have lost a number of top stars on a free transfer in recent years, including the likes of Paul Pogba, David de Gea, Nemanja Matic and Edinson Cavani.

However, the Red Devils have been on the other side of that same equation many times.

Christian Eriksen, for example, arrived on a free from Brentford in 2022.

Normally among the biggest transfer spenders in the game, United made Pogba the world’s most expensive player when they bought him back from Juventus for €105 million, while Harry Maguire is the second costliest defender of all-time after arriving from Leicester in 2019.

READ: Cristiano Ronaldo’s Man Utd exit ‘hurt’, admits club legend

But, the Glazer family haven't always opened the cheque book for transfer fees. From Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Michael Owen, FootballTransfers looks at some of their best free transfer arrivals over the years.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (from PSG)

Ibrahimovic was 34 when he arrived at Old Trafford in 2016, and although we have the power of hindsight now, there were doubts about him back then.

While 156 goals in 180 games with previous employers Paris Saint-Germain were impressive, they were mostly plundered in a division consistently ranked significantly below England’s Premier League in UEFA’s biennial coefficient analysis.

READ: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Football Transfers profile

He soon set about dispelling any doubts, though, scoring 17 goals in his first season to become the oldest player – at 35 years and 125 days – to pass 15 goals in a Premier League campaign. The evergreen Swede secured a double of EFL Cup and Europa League before embarking on his next adventure, with LA Galaxy in 2018.

Laurent Blanc (from Inter Milan)

While Ibrahimovic was helping United win the last of their trophies in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, Blanc was signed by the Scotsman at the height of it, arriving on a free from Inter to plug the gap left at centre-back by Jaap Stam, who had been allowed to leave for Lazio.

Already a World Cup winner with France and a player nearing the end of his career when he joined Man Utd, Blanc nonetheless impressed alongside countryman Mikael Silvestre at the heart of the Red Devils’ defence in his first season.

Although he had been supplanted by Rio Ferdinand in his second, he still retired with a Premier League winners medal from 2003 to his name.

Paul Scholes (from retirement)

Scholes may be a key figure from Man Utd’s fabled Class of ’92, alongside David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers – all of whom were technically free having graduating from United’s youth academy – but he is the only one who re-signed for the club at the tail end of his career.

Scholes had been training with the reserves when a midfield injury crisis hit the first team in 2012. He was open to playing elsewhere if Ferguson wouldn’t have him, but the most-mentioned player in the manager’s 2013 autobiography was always going to be given a chance, even at 37.

Scholes added five goals and 33 appearances in his farewell tour, taking his Man Utd totals to 107 and 499 in each column, and retired again in 2013 with a 11th Premier League title under his belt, and a 97th yellow card for good measure.

Edinson Cavani (from PSG)

PSG’s record goal-scorer Cavani and Ibrahimovic never got on in Paris, and the Uruguayan waited until Zlatan was well clear of Manchester before joining, also on a free, in 2020.

The trophies had dried up when El Matador arrived, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Cavani scored a respectable 19 goals – as well as contributing seven assists – in his two seasons with the club, and let Cristiano Ronaldo nab his No.7 shirt when the Portuguese returned in 2021.

Michael Owen (from Newcastle)

Owen’s career had looked to be all but finished when he signed on a free from Newcastle in 2009. A Ballon d’Or winner with Liverpool in 2001, injuries had robbed the former Real Madrid man of much of his pace, and he was a year on from having retired from England duty.

But, Ferguson had faith that Owen might add to his attack and add to it he did. Owen scored 17 goals in his three seasons with United, the most fondly remembered of which was his injury-time winner in the Manchester derby in September 2009.