From Which Club do We Have the Best Track Record of Making Signings From?

No Love

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Ahead of tomorrow’s match, I found myself thinking about potential starting lineups and was genuinely excited to see Bruno again. It got me to thinking, we have a nice little record of making signings from Sporting:

Cristiano
Nani
Bruno

The one potential blotch on that record, for me, is Rojo. Whilst not the worst player I’ve ever seen, I don’t think I could call him a successful signingAnyway, those signings ensure we have a nice record of signing players from Sporting. Whilst this is far from comprehensive, I’ve had a little think about other crops of players we’ve signed from one club.

PSV:
van Nistelrooy
Stam
Park
Memphis

Spurs:
Berbatov
Carrick
Sheringham

Leeds:
Cantona
Ferdinand
Smith

Blackburn:
Berg
May
Jones (lol)

Fulham:
Saha
Van der Sar
Smalling

Everton:
Rooney
Fellaini
Lukaku

Monaco:
Martial
Barthez
Evra

I was thinking about Atleti and Villa as potential options; however, I couldn’t quite recall any other transfers from the respective clubs, other than:

Villa:
Yorke
Young

Atletico:
Fortune
De Gea

To substantiate any claim, I tried to cite at least three signings from one club. With that said, it’s not rigid and fewer signings of a higher quality, could supersede more signings of less quality. Based on those I have provided, I’d lean towards Sporting, Leeds, Spurs or PSV. Having said that, I’ve probably missed something glaring and made a fool of myself.

Anyway, what do we say, chaps? From which club do we have the best track record of making signings from? Also, if this has already been done, I sincerely apologise and feel free to delete/ignore.
 

SilentWitness

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Those PSV signings are standouts for me. Stam integral to the 99 treble side, Park to the 07-08 double side and that era, Ruud outstanding in that 02-03 season but probably should have won more.

As a neutral Park kind of embodies everything about what made that squad from around 07-11 so good. The desire, the work rate, the passion, the will to do anything on the pitch for your team-mates, being alert for every single second of the 90 minutes.
 
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Vidyoyo

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I contest your idea that signing Memphis and Jones was somehow better than signing Rojo.

However for the purpose of being nice, Spurs. Some really solid signings there. PSV a close second.
 

Tiber

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Spurs was the first thing that came to my mind
 

Falcow

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Good question.....from that list I would say Spurs.

Notts Forest....keane and Webb. West Ham, Ince and Tevez. I'm sure there was another one from each of those?

Actually Sporting ahead of Spurs.
 
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Dr. Dwayne

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Thanks for compiling these. I'll rate them below:

Sporting: overall A
Cristiano - Great
Nani - Good
Bruno - Great (?)
Rojo - Crap

PSV: overall A-
van Nistelrooy - Great
Stam - Great
Park - Good
Memphis - Crap

Spurs: overall A
Berbatov - Good
Carrick - Great
Sheringham - Good

Leeds: overall A
Cantona - Great
Ferdinand - Great
Smith - Crap

Blackburn: overall F
Berg - Crap
May - Crap
Jones - Crap

Fulham: overall B
Saha - Good
Van der Sar - Great
Smalling - Good

Everton: overall C
Rooney - Great
Fellaini - Crap
Lukaku - Crap

Monaco: overall B+
Martial - Good
Barthez - OK
Evra - Great

Villa: overall B
Yorke - Great
Young - Good

Atletico: overall B+
Fortune - OK
De Gea - Great
 
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Josep Dowling

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Leeds. Didn’t Dennis Irwin come from them as well?

Edit: we signed him from Oldham but he played for Leeds before that.
 

manutddjw

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Leeds. My deciding factor was not only how good the signings were but length of time we got outstanding service from them. We got 4 good years out of Cantona (suspension) and if you want to discount the beginning and end of Rio's career with us we still got about 8 years of top class defending from him.

Sporting seems to be the popular choice, but if you look at it because we got Ronaldo early, we pretty much got 3 outstanding years out of him, Nani had 2 consistent seasons and Bruno just got here.

Excellent topic by the way.
 

Green_Red

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Has to be Leeds for me. With Sporting a very very close second, and given time could be top.
 

izec

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Sporting was the first club that came to my mind.

Then PSV.

I like Leeds as well, was a good club for us to take players from.
 

charlenefan

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Memphis stinking up the PSV vibe :(
Yeah but we sold him for basically what we paid for him so it voids that one

I'd go Sporting;

Cristiano - best player to play for United that I've seen
Nani - on his day top class
Bruno - well let's see but so far :drool:
Rojo - he's been a fine squad player as well and given us some funny memories

Can't think of anyone who's left Sporting that we've looked back and thought we'd missed out on either @SportingCP96 can you think of any or have those 3 been your best players over the last 20 years or so?
 

RUCK4444

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Yeah but we sold him for basically what we paid for him so it voids that one

I'd go Sporting;

Cristiano - best player to play for United that I've seen
Nani - on his day top class
Bruno - well let's see but so far :drool:
Rojo - he's been a fine squad player as well and given us some funny memories

Can't think of anyone who's left Sporting that we've looked back and thought we'd missed out on either @SportingCP96 can you think of any or have those 3 been your best players over the last 20 years or so?
Yeah true and my vote is Sporting as well, for Ronnie alone. Man I worshiped that guy. Still do :(
 

RedfromIreland

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Going back a while, West Brom.
Most notable, Bryan Robson.
Remi Moses.
Now showing my age, back in the 60's, Maurice Setters.
 

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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Thanks for compiling these. I'll rate them below:

Sporting: overall A+
Cristiano - Great
Nani - Good
Bruno - Great (?)

PSV: overall A-
van Nistelrooy - Great
Stam - Great
Park - Good
Memphis - Crap

Spurs: overall A
Berbatov - Good
Carrick - Great
Sheringham - Good

Leeds: overall A
Cantona - Great
Ferdinand - Great
Smith - Crap

Blackburn: overall F
Berg - Crap
May - Crap
Jones - Crap

Fulham: overall B
Saha - Good
Van der Sar - Great
Smalling - Good

Everton: overall C
Rooney - Great
Fellaini - Crap
Lukaku - Crap

Monaco: overall B+
Martial - Good
Barthez - OK
Evra - Great

Villa: overall B
Yorke - Great
Young - Good

Atletico: overall B+
Fortune - OK
De Gea - Great
Rojo really knocks Sporting’s grade down. Too early to judge Bruno. Di Maria was great for his first 2 months. I think he’ll keep it up & be a great signing but you never know in football.
 

SportingCP96

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Yeah but we sold him for basically what we paid for him so it voids that one

I'd go Sporting;

Cristiano - best player to play for United that I've seen
Nani - on his day top class
Bruno - well let's see but so far :drool:
Rojo - he's been a fine squad player as well and given us some funny memories

Can't think of anyone who's left Sporting that we've looked back and thought we'd missed out on either @SportingCP96 can you think of any or have those 3 been your best players over the last 20 years or so?
Over the last 20 Years? You guys have got the best 3 for sure. Ronaldo, Nani, and Bruno have been the best by far. You guys got the best of the bunch for sure.

Others that could of been good players for United are Joao Moutinho and William I would say.

I will leave you with this though..3 Names to keep an eye out for an check back with me in a few years

- Eduardo Quaresma (CB) 18 Years of age
- Nuno Mendes (Left back) 18 years of age
- Joelson Fernandes (Winger) 17 years of age

The first 2 have been fantastic tonight and the third might make his debut in the second half.
 

big rons sovereign

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Thanks for compiling these. I'll rate them below:

Sporting: overall A+
Cristiano - Great
Nani - Good
Bruno - Great (?)

PSV: overall A-
van Nistelrooy - Great
Stam - Great
Park - Good
Memphis - Crap

Spurs: overall A
Berbatov - Good
Carrick - Great
Sheringham - Good

Leeds: overall A
Cantona - Great
Ferdinand - Great
Smith - Crap

Blackburn: overall F
Berg - Crap
May - Crap
Jones - Crap

Fulham: overall B
Saha - Good
Van der Sar - Great
Smalling - Good

Everton: overall C
Rooney - Great
Fellaini - Crap
Lukaku - Crap

Monaco: overall B+
Martial - Good
Barthez - OK
Evra - Great

Villa: overall B
Yorke - Great
Young - Good

Atletico: overall B+
Fortune - OK
De Gea - Great
Come on man, Berg deserves better for the inter game alone.
 

lysglimt

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Good question.....from that list I would say Spurs.

Notts Forest....keane and Webb. West Ham, Ince and Tevez. I'm sure there was another one from each of those?

Actually Sporting ahead of Spurs.
Forest ? FOREST ?
Peter Davenport, Ian Storey Moore, Garry Birtles - and Webb wasn't a success. He was perhaps the best attacking midfielder in the country when he arrived - and 1 month later he was injured and out for 6 months - never to return to the same form. So before Keane - we had 4 flops from Nottingham
 

lysglimt

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Leeds, Chelsea and Celtic probably the best in the UK

Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Alan Smith, Rio Ferdinand - and some frenchman...
Paddy Crerand, Brian McClair and Lou Macari (and Liam Miller)
Alex Stepney, Ray Wilkins, Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic
 

Falcow

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Forest ? FOREST ?
Peter Davenport, Ian Storey Moore, Garry Birtles - and Webb wasn't a success. He was perhaps the best attacking midfielder in the country when he arrived - and 1 month later he was injured and out for 6 months - never to return to the same form. So before Keane - we had 4 flops from Nottingham
:lol:
Perhaps I gave that one insufficient thought.

I'm keeping Webb in there however for his pass to Robbins in the 1990 FA cup final replay!
 

RoadTrip

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Great topic but I’m really sorry, I can’t resist being that asshole who points out that not every word in the title needs to be capitalised!
 

simonhch

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Thanks for compiling these. I'll rate them below:

Sporting: overall A
Cristiano - Great
Nani - Good
Bruno - Great (?)
Rojo - Crap

PSV: overall A-
van Nistelrooy - Great
Stam - Great
Park - Good
Memphis - Crap

Spurs: overall A
Berbatov - Good
Carrick - Great
Sheringham - Good

Leeds: overall A
Cantona - Great
Ferdinand - Great
Smith - Crap

Blackburn: overall F
Berg - Crap
May - Crap
Jones - Crap

Fulham: overall B
Saha - Good
Van der Sar - Great
Smalling - Good

Everton: overall C
Rooney - Great
Fellaini - Crap
Lukaku - Crap

Monaco: overall B+
Martial - Good
Barthez - OK
Evra - Great

Villa: overall B
Yorke - Great
Young - Good

Atletico: overall B+
Fortune - OK
De Gea - Great
Generally agree, so I won’t throw the baby out with the bath water, but Henning Berg was not crap. He made 29 appearances in the treble season and would’ve played more if it wasn’t for injury. Possibly including the final. SAF trusted him in the big European games and he was particularly brilliant in both QF legs against Inter.
 

Web of Bissaka

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So..

Sporting gave us flair.
PSV brought us expensive specialists.
Spurs sold us expensive supporting tools.
Leeds send us expensive stars.
Blackburn supply us defenders.
Fulham provided us missing ingredients.
Everton blast us with cannon balls.
Villa fuel us with speed.
 

sparx99

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Over the last 20 Years? You guys have got the best 3 for sure. Ronaldo, Nani, and Bruno have been the best by far. You guys got the best of the bunch for sure.

Others that could of been good players for United are Joao Moutinho and William I would say.

I will leave you with this though..3 Names to keep an eye out for an check back with me in a few years

- Eduardo Quaresma (CB) 18 Years of age
- Nuno Mendes (Left back) 18 years of age
- Joelson Fernandes (Winger) 17 years of age

The first 2 have been fantastic tonight and the third might make his debut in the second half.
It’s alway seemed like Sporting could suit us as an affiliate club. First option on their young players and we could loan them young players who need games. Chong and Gomes would benefit I’m sure!
 

SportingCP96

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It’s alway seemed like Sporting could suit us as an affiliate club. First option on their young players and we could loan them young players who need games. Chong and Gomes would benefit I’m sure!
We are way too big of a club to be an affiliate club to someone else. It would also make no sense to Sporting to loan in players like Gomes and Chong when we have and have had far superior talents in our system that we could actually make money from and benefit from in the long run via a transfer.

We are not AZ Alkmaar or Vitesse just to name two.

Its like saying someone should have Ajax as an affiliate club. There Is no benefit to gain from the club and the club itself is too big to take on young players and groom them for someone else.

Porto, Sporting, and Benfica are way too big of European clubs (historically not financially) to be an affiliate to anyone.
 

rcoobc

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Good question.....from that list I would say Spurs.

Notts Forest....keane and Webb. West Ham, Ince and Tevez. I'm sure there was another one from each of those?

Actually Sporting ahead of Spurs.
We didn't technically buy tevez, and also technically not from West ham
 

Class of 63

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We are way too big of a club to be an affiliate club to someone else. It would also make no sense to Sporting to loan in players like Gomes and Chong when we have and have had far superior talents in our system that we could actually make money from and benefit from in the long run via a transfer.

We are not AZ Alkmaar or Vitesse just to name two.

Its like saying someone should have Ajax as an affiliate club. There Is no benefit to gain from the club and the club itself is too big to take on young players and groom them for someone else.

Porto, Sporting, and Benfica are way too big of European clubs (historically not financially) to be an affiliate to anyone.
Didn't Sporting have an accord with Man City for a while? Remember thinking we'd missed a trick there.
 

Thiagoal

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Thanks for compiling these. I'll rate them below:

Sporting: overall A
Cristiano - Great
Nani - Good
Bruno - Great (?)
Rojo - Crap

PSV: overall A-
van Nistelrooy - Great
Stam - Great
Park - Good
Memphis - Crap

Spurs: overall A
Berbatov - Good
Carrick - Great
Sheringham - Good

Leeds: overall A
Cantona - Great
Ferdinand - Great
Smith - Crap

Blackburn: overall F
Berg - Crap
May - Crap
Jones - Crap

Fulham: overall B
Saha - Good
Van der Sar - Great
Smalling - Good

Everton: overall C
Rooney - Great
Fellaini - Crap
Lukaku - Crap

Monaco: overall B+
Martial - Good
Barthez - OK
Evra - Great

Villa: overall B
Yorke - Great
Young - Good

Atletico: overall B+
Fortune - OK
De Gea - Great
I think you’re being very harsh on Henning Berg who I’d have down as a very good signing! Alan Smith was a great squad option too until his broken leg
 

sparx99

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We are way too big of a club to be an affiliate club to someone else. It would also make no sense to Sporting to loan in players like Gomes and Chong when we have and have had far superior talents in our system that we could actually make money from and benefit from in the long run via a transfer.

We are not AZ Alkmaar or Vitesse just to name two.

Its like saying someone should have Ajax as an affiliate club. There Is no benefit to gain from the club and the club itself is too big to take on young players and groom them for someone else.

Porto, Sporting, and Benfica are way too big of European clubs (historically not financially) to be an affiliate to anyone.
Yeah I get that. It wasn’t meant to suggest they are a small club by any means and a first option agreement doesn’t have to mean no negotiation or competition for a good player.

It just seems like Sporting could use some help competing against Porto and Benfica and maybe we could supply it in a mutually beneficial way.

In truth those ‘farm’ teams (vitesse/Antwerp) haven’t ever really produced a player for the first XI so probably a bit pointless in the end.
 

SportingCP96

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Didn't Sporting have an accord with Man City for a while? Remember thinking we'd missed a trick there.
City wanted to make a deal happen but it never manifested.

Sporting fans were not happy about the rumor to begin with.