Manchester United transfer news: How £460m was spent on a faltering squad failed since Alex Ferguson's retirement

United have made 22 signings since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, but have any of them gone on to make a significant impact?

Manchester United are on their third permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. Under David Moyes, the club spent just under £66m, with two marquee signings, Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata, coming in. Following the Scot’s chastening experience at the helm, Louis van Gaal was given a massive transfer war chest as the club looked to return to the Champions League at the first time of asking and possibly challenge for the title.

They made six major signings in the 2014 summer transfer window, most notably the acquisition of Angel di Maria, who became the most expensive signing by an English club. His spell at United turned out to be a forgettable one and although the likes of Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo still feature at the club, they have been inconsistent.

United successfully qualified for the Champions League, leading to another glut of purchases in the summer of 2015. This was arguably United’s worst transfer window of the four, with Anthony Martial the only new player to make a meaningful impression. United failed to score 50 goals in the league for the first time in Premier League history and following a fifth-place finish, Van Gaal was swiftly replaced by Jose Mourinho.

At this stage, it is too early to properly assess the Portuguese’s signings. However, it does seem that Mourinho has his doubts about Henrikh Mkhitaryan, while Paul Pogba has looked a shadow of the player that he was at Juventus.

What is clear is that many of the big-money signings made by Van Gaal have been on the periphery this season. Luke Shaw was expected by many to slot back into the side once he had fully recovered from a double leg fracture, but has struggled for minutes this season, with Daley Blind favoured. Similarly, Matteo Darmian is increasingly on the fringes, with Antonio Valencia installed as the club’s first-choice right-back.

Despite his title-winning pedigree, Bastian Schweinsteiger was infamously banished to the Under-23s by Mourinho, while Morgan Schneiderlin has also struggled to demonstrate his worth to the new boss. Memphis Depay’s fall from grace has been the most disappointing of all, with the 22-year-old coming to the division as one of the Eredivisie’s leading lights, yet is now regularly left out of the matchday squad.

It is this discontinuity and lack of cohesion that will be most troubling to fans, with successive managers bringing radically different ideas to the table, leading to hundreds of millions of pounds being wasted.