Three Man Utd rejects out to destroy Man City dream for Inter Milan as fans wonder why they aren’t still at Old Trafford
MANCHESTER UNITED have been waiting 12 years and counting to return to a Champions League final.
That 3-1 defeat at Wembley in 2011 by Barcelona was their third appearance in four years after winning it in 2008.
They have not even been close since with the quarters, twice, as far as they have got.
So United fans might be wondering how three of their rejects have managed it with Inter Milan today — and if they should have left Old Trafford at all.
So where did it all go wrong for Romelu Lukaku, 30, Matteo Darmian, 33, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, 34, with the Red Devils?
Still short of a No 9, United could do with a Lukaku at his best.
But the Belgian’s time at the club came to an inauspicious end training on his own at a cricket ground in Perth before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could get him out.
He arrived from Everton for £75million in July 2017 and had a spectacular start under Jose Mourinho.
He scored ten goals in his first nine games and beat Sir Bobby Charlton’s 58-year club record of nine in his first nine.
Lukaku bagged 27 goals in his first season, including 16 in the Prem as United came second.
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The following season did not go so well as Mourinho’s reign unravelled and Solskjaer’s faster more fluent game did not suit the targetman.
His second season will be remembered for his double against hosts Paris Saint-Germain as United reached the last eight on the away-goals rule after overcoming a 2-0 first-leg deficit with a 3-1 win.
But Solskjaer kept him away from the rest of the squad during pre-season training the following summer at the WACA cricket ground before a £73m switch to Inter Milan was agreed.
A record of 42 goals in 96 appearances still looks good.
And when he went on to get 64 in 95 games in the next two seasons at Inter, United fans must have wondered what Solskjaer was thinking.
The on-loan Chelsea striker now stands on the brink of his greatest-ever achievement back at Inter — with boss Simone Inzaghi having to chose between him and former Manchester City frontman Edin Dzeko to start up top.
Mkhitaryan left many fans just as baffled as the attacking midfielder failed to convince Mourinho right from the start, despite the Special One making him a £30m signing in the summer of 2016.
He waited until September 10 for his first Prem start and was hooked at half-time for failing to track back for Manchester City’s second goal in a 2-1 defeat.
Mkhitaryan would start only 15 league games that season but was a hero in the Europa League run.
He played ten games from the off and scored six goals including one in the 2-0 triumph over Ajax in the final. With that he became the first Armenian to win a European trophy.
The first three matches of the following campaign saw him assist five goals but he never really fitted in with what Mourinho wanted defensively.
He did not even figure in the squad for five games before a brief return ahead of his switch to Arsenal in January 2018 as part of a deal to bring Alexis Sanchez to United.
Now he is heading for a fairytale end to his career.
Mkhitaryan said: “I want to win because it’s the Champions League — that doesn’t come along every day.”
He is fit despite being out since May 16 with a thigh injury.
Full-back Darmian had four years at United after a £12.9m move from Torino in July 2015.
Again, he had a great start and was named the club’s player of the month for August.
His 24 league starts that first season under Louis van Gaal would be his best tally.
Darmian moved to Parma for £1.4m in September 2019 then joined Inter the following season — initially on loan.
But he has not forgotten his time at Old Trafford and wants to stop City matching United’s 1999 Treble.
He said: “Being a former United player is extra motivation.”