Manchester United are looking to secure the signing of Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount in this transfer window. As the window comes closer and closer, the speculations of Mount joining the Red Devils intensifies.
The English midfielder has found it tough to find game time for the Blues and is said to leave London for £55 million and join his English compatriots Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford. He may also find his captain Harry Kane alongside him if Man United are finally able to lure the Spurs striker into the squad.
Before Mason Mount, there haven’t been many to have joined Manchester United from Chelsea. We will be talking about the top 10 prominent signings between the clubs in the history of the Premier League.
1. Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes, a product of Manchester United academy, started his career with Man United in 1980 before leaving the club for Barcelona and Bayern Munich although only for a spell of three years from 1986 to 1988.
He rejoined the club for a then-record fee of £1.8 million, and won two Premier League titles before being signed by Chelsea in 1995 for £1 million where he won the FA Cup and the League Cup.
2. Juan Sebastian Veron
Not a successful signing by any means, Juan Veron was purchased by Manchester United for a then record fee of £28.1 million from Lazio. The playmaker could not last under Ferguson and in two years time was sold to Chelsea for £15 million. With Chelsea too his time on the pitch was not as rosy. Plagued with injury problems, he could only make 7 appearances for the club before leaving them eventually in 2007 to Estudiantes.
3. Juan Mata
Arguably the best transfer between the two clubs. The Spanish playmaker was a fan favourite at Stamford Bridge. He had helped the Blues succeed in the 2011/2012 Champions League season and triumph Europa League the next season.
Much to the frustrations of Chelsea, Juan Mata did not fit in Mourinho’s style of play and left for Manchester United in a £37.1 million deal in January 2014. The Spaniard however remained with United when Mourinho joined the Red Devils and he also helped them win the Europa League back in 2016.
4. Nemanja Matic
Nemanja Matic joined Manchester United from Chelsea for £40 million in July 2017. Before that he had two spells with Chelsea where he could never really settle.
In 2011, he left for Benfica after being signed by the club in a swap deal with David Luiz. However, he proved his worth and returned back to the Blues for £21 million, three years later. He finally became an integral part of Stamford Bridge, helped them win two Premier League titles and a FA Cup in only a span of three years.
5. Ray Wilkins
Ray Wilkins was a teenage sensation back in 1973. Only aged 17, he joined Chelsea and was soon handed the captaincy as early as the age of 19. He helped Chelsea back to promotion to the first division but was eventually sold by the debt-ridden London club for a record fee of £800,000 million to then big name Manchester United. He won FA Cup with the Red Devils in 1983.
6. George Graham
George Graham was a big name in the 1960s. Having played for top three clubs in Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United, Graham had the eyes of many Premier League pundits.
Signed by Chelsea from Aston Villa for £5,000, Graham had a wonderful term where he scored 35 goals in 72 league games. Looking at this performance, the Gunners came in yearning for the forward where he spent a long spell of 308 games and won the double. In 1971 he joined Manchester but was a complete disaster where he could not help avoid his team from getting relegated to division two.
7. Romelu Lukaku
The Belgian international had become a big name in the Premier League after his stupendous performances at Godinson Park. Before playing for Everton, he was a part of Chelsea from 2011 to 2014 where he has to endure two loan spells and did not really have a pleasing time with the club. In 2017 summer window, United finally got their hands on this huge guy for £75 million. He filled in Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s shoes pretty well for sometime before leaving Old Trafford to eventually become Ibrahimovic’s biggest rival in Seria A, having joined Inter Milan.
8. Radamel Falcao
A big name and a surprising one too in this list. So much was expected from the AS Monaco striker at Old Trafford when he joined Manchester in September 2014 for £6 million loan deal. Succumbed to the pressure of exemplary, the striker could only score four goals in the whole season and eventually has to go back to Monaco. Chelsea, however were lured in the following campaign and did not pay heed to his performance for Manchester United. His time at Stamford Bridge was worse where the striker could only score one goal in his loan spell.
9. Mal Donaghy
Mal Donaghy is the most successful player of the list to have played for both Chelsea and United. The defender played as a substitute and helped United win European Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Super Cup in 1991 before leaving Manchester. He then joined Chelsea for £100,000 and helped the club win the Premier League title and an FA Cup title.
10. Mark Bosnich
The only goalkeeper in the list, Mark Bosnich had two separate spells with Manchester United. In the season 1999/00 he stood between the posts and helped United secure the Premier League before joining Chelsea for a free transfer in 2001. He was accompanied by a number of injury problems and fitness issues which insured that he could never make his debut for the Blues. In September 2021, he was sacked by Chelsea for having failed a drug test.