Where are they now? The bookies’ predicted Man Utd ‘galactico’ XI of 2017-18
Manchester United and tireless transfer rumours is a combination that will live on for as long as the Red Devils drive clicks for websites around the world.
In May 2017, Oddschecker pulled together a predicted United XI for the 2017-18 season under Jose Mourinho, complete with signings favoured by the bookies.
Let’s take a look at how silly it was and where those players are now.
GK: David de Gea
No surprises between the sticks. De Gea was widely considered to be among the best goalkeepers in the world at this point – if not the best – and had been United’s Player of the Year in three of the previous four seasons.
The Spaniard enjoyed a few more years at the top, but his form began to dip after the 2018 World Cup and specifically from 2020 onwards, with costly errors becoming a regular part of his game.
He left the club at the end of his contract in 2023 as a rather ruthless Erik ten Hag sought to replace him with a more modern goalkeeper who was better with his feet.
De Gea, now 33, has somewhat shockingly been without a club ever since.
RB: Antonio Valencia
After breaking his leg and never quite recovering the same levels as a winger, Valencia’s career was reborn as a right-back and he held down the position for the best part of a decade at United, with Matteo Darmian the only man to ever really challenge him for the spot – and we use ‘challenge’ incredibly lightly.
He eventually left in 2019 to return to Ecuador after a decade of service with the club, having won two Premier Leagues among other trophies, while also serving as club captain later on in his tenure.
Valencia retired in 2021 after a brief stint in Mexican football.
CB: Eric Bailly
Upon signing from Villarreal in 2016, Bailly was rather unknown, but quickly looked like a typical Mourinho masterstroke signing in defence, combining a brilliant reading of the game with an entertaining, hard-hitting and tough-tackling style.
A strong start quickly fizzled out, though. Bailly missed the 2017 Europa League final through injury, which would dictate the rest of his spell at United.
The Ivorian seemed to always either be bogged down by an injury or poor form and could never settle into a run of games without some kind of calamity, and was largely surplus to requirements by the time Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Mourinho in 2019.
Now 30, Bailly left the club permanently in 2023 to sign for Besiktas, but only lasted a few months in Turkey before returning to Villarreal.
CB: Victor Lindelof
Signed in Mourinho’s second summer in charge, the bookies had Lindelof at 9/2 to sign for United with his transfer feeling more like a case of when and not if.
The Swedish international endured a slow start, but became a regular in the defence by 2018-19 and remained a regular for the next few years, forming a bond with Harry Maguire. For all the football he’s played at United, though, he’s never quite managed to convince people that he’s good enough to have stuck around.
He only made 14 starts in the Premier League under Erik ten Hag last season and is being strongly linked with a move to Fenerbahce where he would reunite with Mourinho.
LB: Luke Shaw
Mourinho’s very public feud with Shaw meant that United were linked with Danny Rose and others in the summer of 2017, but a left-back wasn’t signed and Shaw stuck around.
Shaw made just 23 appearances in all competitions in 2017-18 and was the subject of several verbal attacks from his manager, but he managed to outlast Mourinho at United and – despite constantly battling injury issues – has emerged as one of the best left-backs in football when fully fit.
United are an entirely different side when Shaw is fully fit and for the better.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every Man Utd signing since Sir Alex Ferguson retired?
RM: James Rodriguez
Oh yeah, we’ve hit the silly zone. The bookies had Rodriguez at odds as short as 3/10 to join United in the summer of 2018, with the Colombian out of favour at Real Madrid.
He did eventually make it to the Premier League after a loan spell at Bayern Munich, but in a move nobody could’ve predicted.
Rodriguez signed for Everton on a permanent deal in 2020, following Carlo Ancelotti to Goodison Park having played his best football under the Italian.
Rodriguez spent a season in Merseyside and has since played in Qatar and Greece, but is now in Brazil with Sao Paulo aged 33. Oh, he’s also just played the tournament of his life at the 2024 Copa America and has six assists to his name with Colombia in the final.
READ NEXT: Ranking every Man Utd shirt sponsor since 1992 from worst to best
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Man Utd’s 25 most expensive transfers in history?
CM: Paul Pogba
Having returned to United the summer before for a then-world record transfer fee and finishing his first season in supreme style, the mood surrounding Pogba couldn’t have been better.
The Frenchman was similarly imperious in 2017-18, but injuries began to take their toll after the 2018 World Cup and as Mourinho’s relationship with Pogba soured, Pogba’s relationship with the fans and the club would eventually follow.
His dream return fizzled out desperately, despite glimpses of greatness once again under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and he left United for nothing in 2022 to return to Juventus.
Pogba is currently serving a four-year suspension from football after failing a doping test, but is set to appeal the decision.
CM: Ander Herrera
Herrera had grown into United’s most reliable operator by 2017-18 and an undisputed fan favourite for his energetic displays. Mourinho was also a fan, relying on the Spaniard to do his dirty work in big games and unlocking another side to the midfielder.
He left the club for free in 2019 after receiving a contract offer from Paris Saint-Germain and spent four years on the books in the French capital before returning to Athletic Club in 2023, having spent the previous season on loan at his former employers.
LM: Gareth Bale
Was it even the summer transfer window if Bale wasn’t being linked with a move to United? The bookies had the Welshman at just 4/6 to join United, despite him not yet being out of favour at Real Madrid or ever expressing a desire to sign for the Red Devils.
Bale would eventually leave Real after falling out of favour for good under Zinedine Zidane, but not before a few more iconic moments in the famous white shirt, notably that overhead kick against Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final.
He returned to the Premier League with Tottenham on loan in 2020-21 before leaving Real Madrid in 2022.
Bale retired after one season in Major League Soccer with Los Angeles FC, winning the MLS Cup and then hanging up his boots after playing in the 2022 World Cup with Wales.
READ: Where are they now? The 4 players Man Utd sold alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009
AM: Antoine Griezmann
The move that everyone thought would happen, Griezmann’s transfer to United in 2017 was one of the sagas of the summer and genuinely felt like it had legs.
He even stated himself that he had a 6/10 chance of joining the club and had agreed personal terms, but made a U-turn and decided to sign a new deal at Atletico Madrid after a strange documentary following his decision-making process, and a transfer ban handed to Atleti which meant they wouldn’t have been able to replace him.
Griezmann did eventually get his big move, signing for Barcelona in 2019, but it evidently came too late. His form had dropped off a cliff and he was back in Madrid by 2021, where he remains today.
The Frenchman has since rebuilt his stock tremendously, but is unlikely to turn his back on Atleti again.
ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Having ‘signed’ Rodriguez, Bale and Griezmann at this point, United would’ve had no money left for a striker – and probably no money left to keep the gas and electric on at Carrington all season – thus another year with Ibrahimovic it was.
Zlatan did actually agree to stay for another season after his immense 2016-17 campaign which unfortunately ended with an ACL injury, but United futureproofed by signing Romelu Lukaku from Everton for £75million.
Struggling for game time after returning from injury, he left for LA Galaxy in January, but returned to Europe with Milan in January 2020 and spent the rest of his playing career with the Rossoneri, lifting the Scudetto in 2021-22, before retiring in 2023.
He now works as an advisor at the club.