Ruben Amorim is the latest in a long line of managers to try and bring the glory days back to Old Trafford, and time will tell if he is spat out in the same way as the likes of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ralf Rangnick, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag.
For reasons that can't really be explained, not one of them has managed to get close to replicating the success of Sir Alex Ferguson, and one does have to ask the question as to whether the Red Devils have shot themselves in the foot of late.
Scott McTominay, Antony, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood all appear to be enjoying themselves away from the Theatre of Dreams, but do the numbers bear that belief out?
McTominay enjoying life in Serie A
McTominay, whose battling qualities would surely be right at home in a United side struggling down in 13th position in the Premier League, has taken to Serie A like a duck to water and has helped the Partnopei to their current second place, just three points behind Inter.
Despite having to get used to a new league, new surroundings, and master a new language, he's managed to score six goals and provide two assists in 28 games so far this season. That's on par with his final season at Old Trafford, where he managed 10 goals and three assists, albeit in significantly more games (43).
His shooting accuracy of 53.9% is also only marginally lower than the 57.6% he posted in 2023/24 for United, and where he is flourishing is in the freedom he's been given by Antonio Conte in the middle of the park.
689 passes (585 successful) to date is already better than the 643 (524 successful) he made in total during his final Premier League campaign with the Red Devils.
With eight games left to decide the Italian top-flight title, McTominay could yet end the season with silverware.
After Marcus Rashford was bombed out of the United first team by Amorim, a move elsewhere was always going to be on the cards, and Aston Villa have been the beneficiaries of his rejuvenation.
Although it's taken him a while to find his rhythm, understandably so it must be said, three goals and four assists in 11 matches is a more than reasonable return. Particularly, as he only managed seven goals and three assists in 24 games for Man United in 2024/25.
As with McTominay, the 27-year-old England international is playing with the shackles off, and being able to free himself of what appeared to be a huge burden of expectation at Old Trafford is working wonders.
Marcus Rashford has responded well after Villa switch
Unai Emery clearly saw something in Rashford that he could work with, and he's beginning to reap the rewards as we approach the business end of the campaign.
The winger has posted an 87.5% shooting accuracy stat whilst at Villa, the second highest he's recorded in the last three seasons in all competitions, and his 12 shots on target so far for his new club is only three less than he managed for United between August 2024 and February 2025.
Pass accuracy whilst at Villa Park has been as high as 92%, and that's only a sliver under his 93.3% from this season's Community Shield - Rashford's highest reading in this regard over the past few seasons.
Often criticised for his work-rate, aside from 100% success from his three tackles in the Europa League for Man United this season, he's brought the ball away from a tackle with an opponent as much as 66.7% of the time at Villa - exactly the same stat as he posted in 2022/23 with the Red Devils, and the second highest since 2021/22.
Jadon Sancho and Antony are two other wingers who have been allowed to leave the club on loan.
The latter's two goals and two assists in eight games is more than the solitary strike and single assist he managed in 29 games for United before his transfer to Real Betis.
Four fast breaks for the Verdiblancos is his best return in the past two seasons, and the 88 duels he's contested for the Spanish top-flight outfit this season is exactly 60 more than he managed in the first half of the league campaign with the Red Devils.
37 ball recoveries for Betis is also the third best return in the past three seasons for the Brazilian.
From Sancho's point of view, despite an abundance of skill, he's never been the most free-scoring wide man. To that end, two goals and four assists for Chelsea this season wouldn't appear to be too impressive.
However, when you consider he's only done better in the 22/23 Premier League season of late (6G, 3A) and has got nowhere near in any other competition, the stat arguably isn't as bad as it seems on first look.
His own four fast breaks are better than his recent showings for United, whilst 18 total shots at goal is only three behind his best showing of the past few campaigns.
A passing accuracy as high as 94.1% is better than at any time over the past couple of years for the Premier League's serial winners, save for another 100 percent stat in the Community Shield - though given he only played two passes in that game, it hardly counts.
Mason Greenwood has hit the ground running in Ligue1
Finally, we come to Mason Greenwood who, after the backlash to news of his private life making it into the public domain, had no real choice but to accept his immediate and longer-term future wouldn't be at Man United.
The real shame of his situation is that it was clear he had the potential to be a real threat for the Red Devils in attack, but the sheer weight of public opinion left him nowhere to go at the club.
Some might say that with only six goals and two assists in all competitions for United in 2021/22, the club weren't really losing out on much anyway. Talking the talk is all well and good, but those who can't walk the walk are quickly exposed.
For Greenwood, however, it appears that he's taken any anger that he may feel out on opposition defences, firstly in LaLiga and latterly in Ligue1.
At Getafe, he managed 10 goals and six assists in one season, and since signing for Marseille, he's plundered 16 goals and provided three assists in all competitions. 15 lightning-fast breaks is also more than double than he made for United three seasons ago.
Five fouls won in the final third of the pitch during the 21/22 Premier League season can't be compared to the 16 he won whilst at Getafe and the 12 he's won to date this season at Marseille, indicating the importance of getting him on the ball at every opportunity.
Although Greenwood's success in one-on-one duels is slightly worse than it was at United, the amount he's involving himself in during this season has far exceeded his previous output. 243 duels contested in Ligue1 is over 100 more than the 131 he attempted in 21/22.
An 83.7% pass accuracy from 1015 passes at Marseille also compares very favourably to the 83.8% stat from just 464 passes in the entire 21/22 campaign.
The thread that seems to connect all of those players mentioned above appears to be that none are worse off from when they strutted their stuff at Old Trafford, and one could argue that, in fact, in some ways, they're significantly better off.
Whether those out on loan return in the summer is a moot point at this stage, with United's recruitment policy certainly coming under the severest scrutiny regardless of where they finish this season.
