There's rarely a quiet season at Manchester United, particularly when it comes to high-profile players who can prove a challenge to manage
Michael Carrick.
Michael Carrick has worked hard to restore the culture at Manchester United(Image: Michael Campanella/Getty Images)
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Some big personalities have joined Manchester United in decades past, and some have left swiftly to the relief of those at the club. In recent years, Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho were told they had "bad attitudes" and were "lazy" by managers and squad players alike.
Other, more experienced stars who felt the wrath of their teammates and pundits included the iconic Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku. Current manager Michael Carrick starred alongside Ronaldo during his playing career and hopes to avoid any major dressing-room issues, as have often plagued the club in recent years.
The United boss has started off with one win and one loss for the 2026/27 Premier League season and also has the return of Champions League football to look forward to. He will aim to maintain the feel-good factor around Old Trafford following his initial interim period last season, during which he led a struggling team to third place and European football.
Alejandro Garnacho
Garnacho had a bright start at United, making 10 goal contributions in his first full season as a senior Red Devil. However, club captain Bruno Fernandes suggested that the Argentina international lacked a good attitude during his progression into the first team under Erik ten Hag.
Speaking in November 2022, Fernandes told BT Sport: "He was good but he knows we expect a lot from him. He's still really young, doing really well. At the beginning of the season, he was not at his best.
"On the [pre-season] tour he did not have the best attitude. That's why he didn't get his chance until now. He's getting his chances because he's training better, he's having the correct attitude."
Alejandro Garnacho.
Alejandro Garnacho was accused of not 'having the correct attitude'(Image: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
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These words had the opposite effect on Garnacho. He fell out of favour under new manager Ruben Amorim and even criticised his decision to keep him off the pitch during the Europa League final loss against Tottenham.
Garnacho said: "Until we reached the final, I played every round. And I played 20 minutes today – I don't know. I'm going to try to enjoy the summer and see what happens next.
"Obviously it's hard for everyone. Our season was s***. We didn't beat anyone in the league. We lacked a lot of things. When you don't score goals, you always need more."
The 22-year-old departed United and signed for Chelsea in a deal worth £40m. Garnacho failed to impress in west London and this summer joined Aston Villa on loan with an obligation to buy for a similar sum.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United's Dutch manager Erik ten Hag (L) directs substitute Manchester United's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo during the English Premier League football match between Southampton and Manchester United at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton, southern England on August 27, 2022
Cristiano Ronaldo's return to United ended on a sour note(Image: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Ronaldo will forever be remembered for his first stint in Manchester, but his homecoming in 2021 ended in disaster. After a year where he scored 24 goals and brought back nostalgia for many, he fell out with Ten Hag and had his contract terminated before the 2022 World Cup.
The striker took part in a controversial interview with Piers Morgan where he stated there was "no evolution" at the club since Sir Alex Ferguson left. Christian Eriksen spoke out following Ronaldo's exit and claimed that "football will go on" without the Portugal international.
He said: "First of all we are sad that Ronaldo is not part of it, his legacy and his name at any club is special, for me to be fortunate to play with him in my career was very nice. The football goes on. You feel that the next game after, people will forget what it was like before and now our focus is really like he is not here."
Highlighting an improvement in the dressing room, Eriksen added: "The atmosphere is good, we have a lot of people coming back from the World Cup, the last guys are coming back and everyone is coming together. The atmosphere is good. It helps winning games and also before we went away for the World Cup, we had a few good games and good wins and it makes it easier to come back and start like this."
Jadon Sancho
Erik ten Hag, Manager of Manchester United interacts with Jadon Sancho of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal FC at Old Trafford on September 04, 2022 in Manchester, England.
Jadon Sancho fell out of favour under Erik ten Hag(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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Sancho joined in a £73m deal from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 and arrived to much fanfare. However, he ended up on loan three times and left the club at the expiry of his contract this summer.
Once again, the player butted heads with Ten Hag, with Sancho left out of the matchday squad for his "lazy" tendencies in training. Speaking after a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in 2023, the manager said: "Jadon, on his performances in training we did not select him. You have to reach a level every day at Manchester United and we can make choices in the front line. So for this game he was not selected."
Sancho hit back on social media, effectively claiming in a post that was later deleted that the Dutchman was lying. He said: "Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week. I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, I’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair!"
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The Guardian reported that United players urged Sancho to apologise for his actions after he was left out of the team and training with the under-18s. One of Ten Hag's coaching staff, Benni McCarthy, told 947 Joburg how the situation played out between manager and player.
He said: "I spoke to the manager and I said to him that you know the delicacy and I think Jadon feels that if he apologises then he's going to be classed as someone who doesn't train hard, that doesn't work hard, who that everything that was said against him was true and if you are from the streets, no one wants to apologise, you admit you are not training well, you are lazy, everything you are accused of. Jadon wasn’t going to have that. The manager just said that all he wants is an apology.
"I spoke to Jadon as a coach, as a mentor, as a friend, and as someone who grew up on the streets and knows the code. But Jadon just wasn’t seeing it. He said, 'I ain’t apologising because if I do, I’m apologising for being lazy, always being late, not giving my best. That’s what I’m apologising for,' and those were his reasons."
Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku.
Gary Neville insisted Romelu Lukaku was overweight(Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
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Romelu Lukaku arrived at United in 2017 for around £75m after an impressive stint at Everton. While his debut campaign brought 22 goals and seven assists up top, the Belgian forward's numbers began to dip in his second season and Gary Neville was quick to point out why after he left in 2019.
After Lukaku's exit to Inter Milan was confirmed by the club, the former United defender claimed the striker was an unprofessional member of the team because he was unable to keep fit. Discussing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's plans to instil a "new culture" at Old Trafford, the ex-England international told ESPN in 2019: "My view on Romelu Lukaku is that if Manchester United are trying to set a new tone and culture through the club, which Ole is trying to do, any lack of professionalism has got to be stamped upon.
"He didn't want to be here anyway. I think he is a really good player - he'll score a lot of goals and do well at Inter Milan."
Expressing his distaste at Lukaku's fitness, Neville added: "But the idea of a player being overweight for me is unforgivable. You can play badly, miss shots on goal, hit a bad cross or give goals away as they're mistakes in football but you can't be overweight.
"We were never overweight, not fit or not prepared. How can you be overweight!? There's no excuse. Romelu Lukaku has admitted himself that he was overweight so he has removed all doubt."
After stints at Inter, Chelsea, Roma and Napoli, Lukaku is now plying his trade at Fenerbahce in Turkey.