MANCHESTER UNITED have turned to Burnley flop Wout Weghorst in a bid for goals.
The Dutch World Cup ace has joined on loan from Burnley until the end of the season after United forked out £2.5million to cut short his Besiktas spell.
And this is far from the first time a United signing has raised eyebrows, particularly in a January window.
Here are ten of the strangest signings the club have ever made.
Odion Ighalo
Ighalo arrived in 2020 with a record of having scored 16 goals in a Premier League season, though that was at Watford four years earlier.
After a dreadful run in front of goal at the end of 2017 he left the Hornets and headed to China.
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With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer desperate for goals up front, the club turned to Ighalo, who would fulfil his dream of being the first Nigerian ever to play for Man Utd.
He failed to score in the Premier League but chipped in with crucial goals in the FA Cup and the Europa League, leading to his six-month loan from Shanghai Shenhua being extended for a further year.
Ighalo departed for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in 2021 after falling out of favour.
Bebe
The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani show Man Utd have a knack for noticing a quality Portuguese youngster.
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However, when Bebe rocked up in 2010 from Victoria Guimaraes for a bumper £7.4m fee, eyebrows were raised.
One reason for this was that Fergie only met the player, who was 20 at the time, a day before completing the transfer.
In 2012, the Portuguese police even investigated the deal for corruption.
After three loans, he joined Benfica permanently in 2014 where he made just one appearance.
However, he is now enjoying a fruitful La Liga career in Madrid at Rayo Vallecano.
Michael Owen
When Cristiano Ronaldo left Man Utd, former Liverpool legend Michael Owen was hardly the favourite to succeed him in the famous number seven shirt.
Nor was the injury-hit England legend particularly in demand at the time, after being relegated to the Championship with Newcastle.
Owen admitted it was “out of the blue” when Fergie gave him a call, offering a pay-as-you-play deal.
The striker would stay at Old Trafford as a fringe player for three years. But despite him not scoring every week, the goals he did score tended to be important.
He netted a hat-trick away to Wolfsburg in the Champions League group stage and helped United to the League Cup with a Wembley goal against Aston Villa.
But, most importantly, he secured Old Trafford immortality with a last minute winner over Man City in a 4-3 win in the 2009 Manchester derby.
Dong Fangzhuo
In 2004, Man Utd made the surprising signing of Dong Fangzhuo from Dalian Shide.
The striker, who is the only Chinese player ever to play for the Red Devils, was then immediately farmed out to feeder club Royal Antwerp.
And his record of 34 goals in 71 games over two seasons suggested he could ultimately end up being more than just a marketing gimmick for United.
In January 2007, Dong was given a Man Utd squad number for the first time.
However, he failed to enter Fergie’s thinking and had his contract terminated in 2008, having made just one start and two sub appearances.
Henrik Larsson
Like Michael Owen, Henrik Larsson arrived with a record of having previously been one of the world’s top strikers.
And despite being 35 years old, Larsson still had significant pedigree, having won the Champions League with Barcelona the previous season.
However, the Larsson deal raised eyebrows because of the sheer brevity of it.
The striker was lauded for his professionalism by Fergie after scoring one goal in seven Premier League outings during a ten-week loan.
But despite United begging him to stay, Larsson decided to return to Sweden in mid-March so as not to break a promise to start the local season with hometown club Helsingborgs.
Manucho
Man Utd’s scouting system appeared to have truly gone global when they snapped up Angolan league star Manucho in January 2008.
At the age of 24, he had a healthy record of 34 goals in 78 games with Petro Atletico, but had never played outside his homeland.
Immediately after he signed, United would be forced to loan him out to Panathinaikos in order to help the player get a work permit.
After securing his work permit in summer 2008, he made one Premier League appearance before being sent out on loan to Hull.
He then left permanently for Real Valladolid in July 2009.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic
Not a transfer window goes by in which Man Utd aren’t linked with Milinkovic-Savic.
Few fans remember though, that the club actually managed to snap up the Serbian international in 2014.
However, it was not Lazio midfielder Sergej who joined, but his brother – goalkeeper Vanja.
After signing from Vojvodina for £1.55m, Milinkovic-Savic was loaned back to the Serbian club before being released in 2015 after failing to secure a work permit.
But after a spell in Poland, he would go on to make a successful career in Italy with Torino.
And in World Cup 2022, his performances between the sticks were one of few positives for Serbia, who bowed out at the group stage without a win.
Andy Kellett
A name few Man Utd fans will recognise is midfielder Andy Kellett.
Out of favour with Championship side Bolton, Kellett joined Man Utd on loan for half a season in 2014-15 with Saidy Janko moving on loan the other way.
Wanderers boss Neil Lennon said Kellett “thought he was winding him up” when he mentioned Man Utd’s interest.
Kellett would only appear for the reserve team during his short stay at United and even suffered the ignominy of losing to parent club Bolton in the Manchester Senior Cup.
Now 29, he plays his football at non-league Guiseley.
Lee Grant
Ex-Derby and Burnley player had spent two years as backup Stoke City goalkeeper before being released in 2018.
He was then snapped up by United as very much the third choice goalkeeper behind David de Gea and Sergio Romero.
Grant’s debut would come at home to former club Derby in the League Cup after Romero was sent off.
But it didn’t go to plan as United were knocked out via a shootout with Grant failing to get near any of the Rams’ penalties.
Grant would make his first start a year later in a 2-1 Europa League defeat at Astana in Kazakhstan, before retiring and becoming Ipswich goalkeeping coach.
Peter Beardsley
Newcastle legend and Liverpool title winner Peter Beardsley would not be the first name that would come to anybody’s mind from Man Utd’s alumni.
But he actually played for the Red Devils before ever appearing in the Magpies jersey that he would make his own.
In 1982, he joined Man Utd from Vancouver Whitecaps after making a splash in the North American Super League.
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The future England star would make just one appearance, in a League Cup tie with Bournemouth, before heading back to Canada.
A year later, he would move to boyhood club Newcastle and the rest is history.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
