Manchester United's transfer business over the last few years has helped take the club back towards the top end of the table, but it hasn't always been that way.

Under the stewardship of David Moyes, Luis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, the Red Devils brought in several high-profile, expensive flops.

The likes of Marouane Fellaini, Memphis Depay and Alexis Sanchez failed to have an impact at Old Trafford, contributing towards the club's decline following Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.

Another huge disappointment was the acquisition of defensive midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton after he arrived via a £31.5 million deal.

The Frenchman had impressed during a seven-year spell on the south coast where he helped the Saints climb from League One to the Premier League.

However, after earning his move to United in the summer of 2015, Schneiderlin's career quickly took a turn for the worse.

He struggled to live up to the raised expectations placed upon him in the red half of Manchester and failed to produce his best form in his maiden campaign with the Red Devils, despite making 39 appearances in all competitions.

After Mourinho succeeded Van Gaal after Schneiderlin's first 12 months at United, the 6 ft 1 beast made just eight appearances under the Portuguese tactician and only received 11 minutes of Premier League action before he was shown the exit door.

A move to Everton followed after the Toffees agreed to pay his £20m price tag, and although that saw United make a loss, that sale now looks like a very astute piece of business by departing chief executive Ed Woodward.

Schneiderlin never got back to his best at Goodison Park despite playing under Ronald Koeman again, the manager who has extracted his best form during their time together at Southampton.

He made 88 largely underwhelming outings for Everton before returning to his homeland with Nice last summer, a move that has seen his market value drop to just £6.3m even though he's still in his peak years.

Therefore, Woodward's decision to sell Schneiderlin when he did appears to have been a masterstroke, earning United millions of pounds in the transfer market for a player who was already in decline.

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