Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United dynasty went down like a lead balloon after the legendary manager called it a day back in 2013.
Nothing can take away the incredible, matchless success that the Scotsman forged down at the Theatre of Dreams over so many years, but United have never quite been the same since, still searching for their first Premier League and Champions League titles in this post-Fergie world.
A revolutionary, one of the greatest managers in the history of football, Sir Alex will have been among those to have smirked on Sunday evening, when that glorious final whistle rang across Anfield and it was confirmed: the Red Devils had beaten Liverpool in their own backyard.
Ruben Amorim’s had it tough since replacing Erik ten Hag in 2024, but this was a staggering achievement, with the summer signings coming together and producing strong showings on Merseyside.
This new batch of talent might just have the minerals to turn things around at Old Trafford, and if United wish to return to even the outer reaches of their former glory, they will need to start pulling off consistent transfer success in a similar vein to Ferguson in his heyday.
Ranking Fergie's greatest Man United signings
How could we start anywhere other than with Cristiano Ronaldo? One of football’s greatest players, CR7 arrived as a boy from Sporting Lisbon in 2004, for a £12m fee, before growing into a superstar and claiming the Ballon d’Or, before Real Madrid came calling and he left for a record fee.
With 145 goals from 346 appearances, three Premier League titles and a maiden success across an incredible career of triumph in the Champions League, the Portugual legend was fashioned by Ferguson, hailing the manager as his “football father”.
Ronaldo was hardly the extent of Ferguson’s transfer market success, though. Eric Cantona deserves a mention. Swiped from Leeds United for a shrewd £1.2m fee, the combative forward would prove one of the most influential additions in Premier League history, with such strength and style and flamboyance on the field.
And, perhaps the club’s greatest player of the Premier League era, Wayne Rooney, is a further example of Sir Alex and his coaching staff’s talent radar and insistence on securing their quarry, having poached him from Everton for about £26m when he was only 18 years old. The rest, of course, is history.
The list could go on and on, and likely makes for rueful reading if you are of a United persuasion, for such deals have truly been few and far between over the past decade.
There have been one or two, though. Bruno Fernandes is inarguably the best piece of business United have pulled off in a long time, and there would have been a place for the Portuguese Magnifico in many of Man United’s finest squads of the past.
But, while INEOS have faced their share of criticism since Sir Jim Ratcliffe first took his seat in the Old Trafford head office, they might just have pulled off a signing this summer that could be the best since those halcyon days of the past.
Man United's potential "all-timer"
Manchester United supporters have been treated to some of the finest players the Premier League has ever hosted, but there’s no denying that, in spite of the staggering spending over the past ten years, few have pulled their weight.
Well, perhaps that is now changing, with Amorim’s side putting in quite the performance to sink Liverpool in their own backyard, Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire bagging the goals.
And, though his wait for a first goal in a United shirt rages on, Matheus Cunha looks every bit the superstar signing he promised to be when joining from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £62.5m in July.
He worked like a dog, making six recoveries, winning five duels and completing both of his attempted dribbles, as per Sofascore.
Given that the 26-year-old Cunha’s work rate had been questioned at times during his career at Molineux, it’s fair to say he is looking to quash such claims now that he has arrived at the club of his dreams, showing few – if any – signs of such hesitance or reluctance this term.
Seven matches into his Premier League career with United, Cunha has yet to break his duck. This is something he will hope to rectify swiftly, but it’s perhaps a measure of Cunha’s quality that he has not faced the criticism of some other big-money signings in the Premier League this season.
The principal reason is that the Brazilian forward has played with gusto and clarity, and given that he ranks among the top 8% of positional peers across Europe for non-penalty goals scored per 90 over the past 12 months, it’s surely just a matter of time until he finds his form in front of goal.
25/26
7
0 (0)
24/25
33
15 (6)
23/24
32
12 (7)
22/23
17
2 (0)
This has all been picked up by those of an Old Trafford persuasion, with writer Wayne Burton claiming he’s got the “potential to be an all-timer”, with such quality that he might even be “the best player we’ve had since Fergie retired”.
There is certainly something nostalgic about watching Cunha romp about the final third, and when he starts to add goals to his game – and he will – the silky striker might just find himself stepping up as Man United’s main man.
Their finest since Fergie retired? It’s too early to tell. But there’s no question that he has the talent and the desire to hit elusively high heights as Amorim’s project starts to get going.