Dean Henderson
The Manchester Evening News revealed last summer Henderson had been pencilled in to start the season as United's No.1 but he contracted Covid-19 in the first week of pre-season training in July and was laid low for two months.
David de Gea's improved form denied Henderson a kick in the Premier League and his only starts were in the League Cup, Champions League group stage and FA Cup.
2021-22 appearances: 3
Also read: Why Williams and Jones were cut from Europa League squad
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer attempted to replace Wan-Bissaka with Kieran Trippier last summer but Atletico Madrid priced out the right-back of a move to his boyhood club.
Despite Solskjaer's clear reservation over Wan-Bissaka, he had more reservations about reserve right-back Diogo Dalot, who started twice under the Norwegian prior to his late November dismissal.
United shipped 21 goals in their first 12 league games of last season and Wan-Bissaka started in all of them. He has lined up in seven of the last 31 league games managed by Michael Carrick, Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag and was available for transfer in the summer.
2021-22 appearances: 25 (1 substitute appearance)
Luke Shaw
Alex Telles played 17 minutes under Solskjaer last season and, like Dalot, did not start in the league until Carrick was appointed caretaker manager.
Shaw, superb in 2020-21 and in the European Championship, suffered a drastic drop-off in form last season but was never dropped by Solskjaer. Come the end of the season, he had started only one more league match than Telles, although the England international missed 17 games through injury or illness.
2021-22 appearances: 26 (1)
Harry Maguire
It was established last season Eric Bailly resented Harry Maguire's privileges before he endorsed his possible demotion at Arsenal in an Instagram comment, an act of indiscipline Rangnick scolded him for.
When Maguire was suspended for the draw at Chelsea in late November, he was replaced Bailly, who excelled only to be dropped back down to the bench against Arsenal four days later. Maguire was not dropped until the defeat at Arsenal in April and his bench presence was softened by Rangnick, who referenced the bomb threat against Maguire's home earlier in the week.
2021-22 appearances: 35 (2)
Marcus Rashford
2021-22 was Rashford's annus horribilis. He scored five times (one as a starter) and his last strike of the season came in January.
The 24-year-old missed the first two months of the campaign as he underwent surgery on a shoulder injury and he started a mere 13 times in the league.
2021-22 appearances: 18 (14)
Jadon Sancho
Sancho bucked the trend for English players under Solskjaer in that he was outright dropped early in the season (against West Ham on September 19).
The 22-year-old had a variable first year at United and barely excelled under Solskjaer, his first goal coming in the first fixture after Solskjaer was sacked.
2021-22 appearances: 27 (11)
Mason Greenwood
Prior to his arrest in January, Greenwood had scored six goals in 24 games in 2021-22.
2021-22 appearances: 20 (4)
Jesse Lingard
Lingard was an exception to the norm under Solskjaer in that he was overlooked for selection when the general consensus was his impacts off the bench merited meaningful starts.
2021-22 appearances: 4 (18)
Phil Jones
The 30-year-old has started twice in the last two years and both came under Rangnick.
2021-22 appearances: 2 (3)
Top five United appearance makers in 2021-22
David de Gea: 46
Bruno Fernandes: 43 (3)
Cristiano Ronaldo: 35 (3)
Harry Maguire 35 (2)
Scott McTominay 35 (2)
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