Since leaving Ruben Amorim's Manchester United side, Marcus Rashford and Antony have played important roles for high-performing sides on the European scene.
Rashford hasn't been at his rip-roaring best with Aston Villa, but the game-changing winger has still played his part for a side that sit on the cusp of a return to the Champions League, victory at Old Trafford this afternoon standing in his way. He's scored four goals and provided six assists from 17 games for the Villans.
At Real Betis, Antony looks not like a man reborn but a different player altogether. The right-sided forward became something of a whipping boy for his struggles at the Theatre of Dreams after joining from Ajax in an £86m deal, but has hit nine goals and five assists since moving to Spain in January.
However, these aren't the only former Red Devils, those having toiled in existing memory at Old Trafford, who have been remade elsewhere, with Scott McTominay forging an incredible campaign for himself over in Italy.
Scott McTominay's Serie A season
Less than a year after leaving Man United and joining Napoli in a £25m deal, McTominay has won the Scudetto and been crowned the Serie A MVP.
It's been quite the year for the Scotland international, who has long played the bit part at Old Trafford but has been reborn as a bona fide superstar in Naples, the architect of their second league title in three years.
Scott McTominay - Past Six Seasons (league stats)
Season
24/25 - Napoli
23/24 - Man Utd
22/23 - Man Utd
21/22 - Man Utd
20/21 - Man Utd
19/20 - Man Utd
Stats via Transfermarkt
The 28-year-old never quite brought it all together in the Premier League, but he's channelled his innate goalscoring ability and reinforced his underlying metrics, averaging 6.1 successful duels and 4.2 ball recoveries per game, as per Sofascore.
It's exactly the type of midfield robustness that has been lacking for the Red Devils this term, and McTominay's success will not have been lost on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Man-Utd-Scott-McTominay
However, he's not the only former Manchester United star performing under Antonio Conte's wing right now, and you could stake an argument for Romelu Lukaku having been even better than his Scottish teammate.
Romelu Lukaku has been outrageously good
Lukaku first moved to Italian football in August 2019, signing for Inter Milan in a deal worth £74m, leaving Man United.
Romelu Lukaku for Manchester United
He didn't have a terrible spell at Old Trafford by any stretch, but the 32-year-old, then 25, failed to capture the magic of his time with Everton, who the Glazers paid an initial £75m (rising to £90m), two years earlier.
Scoring 42 goals and adding 15 more assists across 96 matches, Lukaku made inroads in his first year but struggled across the 2018/19 season, only bagging 15 goals from 45 fixtures in all competitions.
romelu-lukaku-napoli
He's been something of a nomad across his storied career, but who can say Lukaku hasn't left an indelible mark on so many of his clubs?
Now, Napoli have been added to that list, with the number nine's return of 14 goals and ten assists across the league campaign proving instrumental in the title-winning success. This means that he produced more goals and more assists than the Scottish midfielder, which is why he was even more influential and even better for the Italian outfit.
Football writer Muhammad Butt even took the time to draw praise to Lukaku amid the effusions directed McTominay's way, hailing the "outrageously good" Belgian for his talismanic role across the campaign, bagging his second Serie A title after winning the 2020/21 edition with Inter Milan.
His goal against Cagliari on Friday night, following McTominay's acrobatic opener, was certainly 'outrageous', and a reminder that he's not just a poacher.
Here is one of the finest centre-forwards of his generation, and he underscored his legacy with a stunning season under Conte's wing, a manager who has fallen in love with the nine and sought to make use of his talents across a number of different environments.
McTominay might have won the MVP, but Lukaku will no doubt feel that his prolific season may have warranted the vote angling his way. Ah well, the title will soften that so-called blow.
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