There has been a lot of squad changes at Manchester United in recent years with the five players who Bruno Fernandes labelled as adding "quality" to the squad after his signing all being moved on.
Speaking in the summer of 2020 – six months after his arrival at Old Trafford from Sporting CP – Fernandes praised the depth of United’s squad amid questions of the quality outside of the club’s starting line-up.
United were light on numbers in the 2019/20 campaign but the arrival of Fernandes spearheaded a charge into the top four and subsequent qualification for the Champions League. Indeed, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side secured a third-place finish – leapfrogging Chelsea and Leicester late on.
Fernandes detailed five players who were not in United’s strongest starting line-up who were all important for the club in the run-in to that season. Each of those players has subsequently been moved on from the squad.
Fernandes said, in July 2020: "We have a lot of quality on the bench – Odion [Ighalo] scored in the cup against Norwich and we also have players like Dan James, Jesse [Lingard], Juan [Mata], Chongy [Tahith Chong]."
Ighalo joined United on a loan deal from Shanghai Shenhua in January 2020 until the end of the campaign, netting five goals, and had his deal extended for the following season. However, the Nigerian never secured a permanent deal at Old Trafford and subsequently played in Saudi Arabia.
Dan James was moved on to Leeds United a year after the comments from Fernandes – the Wales international spent last season on loan at Fulham. Jesse Lingard did not have his contract renewed a year ago, as he joined Nottingham Forest as a free agent – he did not have his one-year deal at the City Ground renewed and is now without a club.
Juan Mata also left United at the end of his contract in 2022, joining Turkish giants Galatasaray. The former Spain international secured the first league title of his career in Istanbul. Tahith Chong – following loan spells at Werder Bremen, Club Brugge and Birmingham City – joined the Championship club permanently last summer.
Fernandes has remained a key clog in United’s starting line-up in the years since, scoring 64 goals in 185 appearances for the club and often captaining the team in the absence of Harry Maguire.
