Haaland or Palmer could join Loyal XI who stuck with clubs through demotion – and rejected Man Utd
Manchester City and Chelsea won’t be demoted but it is fun to recall those loyalists who stayed through that fate – even when Manchester United came calling.
Fabien Barthez
Perhaps not the name most associated with goalkeeping loyalty upon shameful demotion, but Barthez can be separated from his 2006 World Cup final contemporary Gianluigi Buffon by a quick comparison of Champions League winner’s medals.The Divine Bald One actually sported plenty of hair and would have made for a far less compatible Laurent Blanc companion around the time of his European triumph with Marseille in 1993, which should rank among his proudest achievements.
But two seasons on from masterfully keeping Milan at bay in the Olympiastadion, Barthez was turning out in Ligue 2 for a Marseille side stripped of its domestic title and shorn of its best players. A bribery scandal caused most to jump ship but not the French keeper, who stayed long enough to inspire their immediate return to the top flight as champions before instantly heading to Monaco.
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Giorgio Chiellini
Future Tottenham historian Chiellini had only just broken into the Juventus first team at left-back when Calciopoli rocked Italian football, but most specifically The Old Lady. It had taken the defender long enough to receive his opportunity and dropping to Serie B was not about to change his course.Chiellini went from complementing a back four of Zambrotta, Cannavaro and Thuram to leading a defence of Birindelli, Kovac and Boumsong in the space of a few short months. The Italian colossus even scored twice in the victory which sealed their Serie A return at the first attempt, guiding their rise back to the summit thereafter.
Alessandro Lucarelli
“The message that comes from Parma is that we’re back,” said Lucarelli as captain and indeed the only surviving member of a ship which plunged the depths of Serie D following bankruptcy. Three successive promotions for the iconic UEFA Cup winners marked the quickest possible return, upon which Lucarelli immediately retired with his work complete.So too did his shirt number. No player has worn the No. 6 for Parma since as the legend of Lucarelli – the club’s oldest player and record holder in terms of league appearances – has proven far too burdensome for anyone to even contemplate carrying.
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Bernard Casoni
A former captain in his 30s when the Marseille match-fixing scandal erupted, Casoni was an unused substitute for the 1993 Champions League final win but did come in handy when the French giants needed numbers upon relegation.The France international never featured as regularly at club level as in his final two seasons at Marseille, which culminated in them rising back into Ligue Un and Casoni promptly retiring.
Angelo Di Livio
The archetypal loyalist, Di Livio played for Italy at the 2002 World Cup while uncertainty raged over the very existence of his beloved Fiorentina. While many would have found such uncertainty difficult to compartmentalise and reconcile, the captain had long since made up his mind to represent whatever future form the club would take.For a solitary year that would come to be Florentia Viola, before the naming rights and traditional purple shirts were secured following bankruptcy and demotion to the Italian fourth tier in 2002. Di Livio was the sole bridge between that troubled past and an unknown present and future.
Still as skipper, he took them through consecutive promotions to reach the top flight again in 2004, staying for one last campaign before retirement. He quite wonderfully won Serie C2 with Perugia and Fiorentina 15 years apart, claiming all manner of trophies at Juventus in between. But only in Florence is he regarded as a ‘Guardian Angel’.
Lee McCulloch
“They have been kind enough to me over the years and I’ve had the success so that’s why I chose to stay,” explained McCulloch of his decision to head all the way down to the Scottish Third Division with Rangers in 2012. Some agreed to transfer their contracts to the new company following administration and liquidation but most could not leave quickly enough, despite the captain’s public pleas for unity.It was never a factor for McCulloch, who went from scoring at Lyon, playing in the Nou Camp and winning the Premier League to netting against Elgin City and Peterhead without prejudice.
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Jean-Philippe Durand
The first substitute Marseille called upon in the 1993 Champions League final also came on at half-time of the fabled game against Valenciennes a week earlier, which OM won 1-0 after midfielder Jean-Jacques Eydelie attempted to bribe three opposition players to take it easy.Durand stuck it out all the way through to his retirement in 1997, bowing out with Marseille firmly back in the Ligue Un mid-table.
Mauro Camoranesi
The Juventus exodus swept away Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira, Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, Lilian Thuram, Gianluca Zambrotta, Adrian Mutu, Fabio Capello and many more, but not Camoranesi. Five days after helping Italy become world champions, he was among those confronting the reality of at least a season in Serie C.That sanction was slightly reduced as Juventus were dumped in Serie B with a points deduction, but they strolled to an inevitable title regardless.
Camoranesi had a fine time of it, saving probably his best performance for promotion rivals Napoli, against whom he scored and assisted goals in a 2-0 home win.
Alessandro Del Piero
But Del Piero was the Juventus linchpin, finishing as Serie B top scorer ahead of Claudio Bellucci and Papa Waigo N’Diaye about a decade and a half after he last graced that stage as a teenager with Padova.Manchester United actually tried their luck with Del Piero, a known target for Sir Alex Ferguson as early as 1996 but a player they thought might have suddenly become available after a slight change in circumstances.
“At first I was flattered, but I never really thought of leaving Juventus,” the captain said, adding: “A true gentleman never leaves his lady.”
Ferguson himself, meanwhile, added much later of the one player he “would’ve gone mad for”:
I courted him even just after Italy’s World Cup win. In that time, Real Madrid were also after him and, given the issues around Juventus at the time, I imagined that between us at United and the Galacticos, there would be a fair auction to get him.
And so I called him directly: “Alex, I’d like you at United”, I said. “You’ll be the star of the squad, and together we’ll win everything”. He laughed and replied: “Sir, you know that nothing has changed from all those years ago. Juve are facing difficult times, and I have to help them. I can’t be a coward.”
Pavel Nedved
The demise of Juventus was almost certainly karma for Thierry Henry being robbed of the 2003 Ballon d’Or by Nedved. Having inspired the club to the utterly dreadful Champions League final that year – for which he was suspended – the Czech had formed inexorable bonds which he felt had to be honoured even a division lower.It likely helped that Nedved was in his 30s and his family had settled in Turin since moving in 2001. He spent a fair amount of his time in Serie B threatening to retire or serving a five-match ban for, to quote the Italian Football League’s disciplinary commission, “insulting the referee and stamping on his foot”, and there is something to be said for that.
David Trezeguet
Not content with trying to tempt Del Piero, Manchester United also pursued Trezeguet in the same summer they sold varying degrees of goalscoring excellence in David Bellion, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Ruud van Nistelrooy.Trezeguet seemed a little more open to the prospect, even if only as a bargaining chip to negotiate a contract extension when Juventus returned to Serie A within a year, the French striker scoring 15 goals en route. Perhaps he simply felt indebted to them after missing his penalty in that awful Champions League final against Milan at Old Trafford.
How Man Utd can save £69million in wages to rebuild with this summer
Manchester United are tasked with rebuilding their squad yet again this summer and while it sounds daunting on the surface, there’s a pot of cash waiting to be used if they can sell correctly.
The Red Devils have been notoriously bad at buying and selling players over the last decade, burning through their own revenues and maxing out the club credit card to desperately try and claw their way back to the top, inevitably to no avail.
That’s left them with a hugely inflated wage bill that now needs to be trimmed.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s job is to restore United to the behemoth that they once were, but do so while being pinched by PSR rules and a tight budget.
However, they can free up around £69million in wages – using figures from Spotrac – to reinvest into the squad by getting rid of the following players, all deemed realistic departures.
Casemiro
From the moment United dropped £70million into Real Madrid’s bank accounts to sign Casemiro in 2022 after a poor start to the season, there was a collective sigh that echoed around football. They’ll never learn, will they?
United got a decent first season out of the five-time Champions League winner, who scored in the Carabao Cup final, but he tailed off in the final few months due to suspensions and has looked increasingly worse with every game he’s played in 2023-24.
There is no doubting the 32-year-old’s abilities in his peak, or his mentality, but it’s clear to see that time has caught up with him and United offered Real an easy way out.
They might have to compromise on a transfer fee, but getting him off the wage bill would save them an annual salary of £18.2million.
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Anthony Martial
A story that should’ve ended a long time ago will finally finish this summer when Martial’s contract – which sees him earn £13million annually – expires.
Everyone thought United had unearthed a star when he scored on debut against Liverpool, but after a strong start and a one-season revival in 2019-20, Martial has disappointed for the most part in Manchester, failing to fulfil his potential due to injury and inconsistency.
Ruthless clubs would’ve gotten rid of the Frenchman long ago, but United instead handed him a new deal in 2019.
His current deal has an option for an extra year, but Ratcliffe and United are best letting go now, taking a hit on a transfer fee and freeing up the £13million annually in wages.
Christian Eriksen
Eriksen is a somewhat harsh inclusion on the list and would probably continue to operate as a fine squad player, but with United seriously needing to raise funds and alleviate the financial restraint on the club, cashing in on the Dane feels sensible.
An uncharacteristically shrewd signing at the time, United snapped up Eriksen for free ahead of the 2022-23 season following a brilliant comeback with Brentford and his calming presence was immediately felt at the base of midfield.
Unfortunately, the 32-year-old struggles to maintain his best levels for any longer than 45 minutes at a time and his defensive limitations have hurt United more than once.
He has a contract through to the summer of 2025 which sees him earn £7.8million annually, but recouping a small transfer fee while they can would represent good business. 
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Raphael Varane
Another Real Madrid great who came to United at the end of their peak for huge money, Varane has been the club’s best defender at times, but simply cannot stay fit for long enough and is way too costly to be a rotation arm.
Going off everything we know about how Ratcliffe and INEOS want to run United, moving Varane on for a much younger, more affordable rotation option seems realistic.
Varane signed a deal through to 2025 when making the move in 2021, but with clever agent work and a compromise on a transfer fee, United should be able to move him on this summer and remove a £17.68million salary from their wage bill.
Victor Lindelof
Like Martial, Lindelof has overstayed his welcome at United. Around a few patches of good form, the Swede has never progressed from more than a squad player and cannot be relied upon when trying to push up to a higher level.
He signed under Jose Mourinho in 2017 for £31million and was handed a new contract in 2023, extending his deal through to 2025. He earns £6.24million annually – significantly less than some others – but is still a dead weight that could be moved on for a small fee.
Every little helps.
Sofyan Amrabat
With United out of cash to spend in the summer of 2023 but still needing reinforcement, they managed to strike a loan deal for Fiorentina midfielder Amrabat.
Earning around £3.4million annually – which United will be covering – his loan spell has largely been underwhelming and he is expected to return to Italy in the summer.
Easy money spared.
Jonny Evans
Returning to the club on a one-year deal ahead of the 2023-24 season, Evans was probably expecting lovely training sessions, plenty of golf and maybe football games once a month. Instead, he’s made 24 appearances in all competitions and started 12 times in the Premier League.
It’s actually a bit mental to think where United would’ve been without Evans this season, who has bailed them out more than once with brilliant performances.
The 36-year-old earns a salary of around £3.12million and is unlikely to stick around after this season, though, with some reports suggesting retirement is on the cards.
Either way, United cannot justify another year of putting poor Jonny through it. Let him go, save some money and do some smart business for once.
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Mainoo, Toney and Bowen boost Euro chances: England player ratings against Belgium
England would have taken a fair bit from an entertaining and, by friendly standards, pleasingly niggly evening against Belgium even without Jude Bellingham’s energising late equaliser. Some of the attacking football was really great to watch, while some of the defending was… well, let’s not dwell too much on the defending.
Most importantly, and unlike on Saturday against Brazil, this was a night when several players really made their point with the European Championships now just around the corner.
JORDAN PICKFORD
A horrible error for the opening goal, with the reorganisation that was going on in front of him after John Stones’ early departure only offering the most tenuous of mitigation. But put it behind him in Pickfordian fashion and did what was required of him manfully enough after that. Could do little about the second goal, with all the clusterf*cks this time happening in front of him.
EZRI KONSA
Started the game at right-back in place of the injured Kyle Walker before moving inside after Stones’ early injury, to be replaced at right-back by another centre-back in Joe Gomez. We are once again asking how a team that routinely plays right-backs at left-back and sometimes even in midfield has ended up using not one but two centre-backs out there. A bizarre situation, although it would be churlish to blame Gareth Southgate too much for a situation in which all four members of his first-choice defence were unavailable by the time eight minutes were on the clock here.Related video: 'They're in a very high position' - Belgium coach Tedesco on facing England at Wembley on Tuesday (SNTV)
Yeah, of course we know about the injuries,
BEN CHILWELL
In fairness, he settled okay after a chaotic start in which he was far from the only offender. But his attacking contributions are shot to sh*t and he looks a fairly depressing shadow of his pre-injury self.
JOHN STONES
An uncertain start even before tweaking something and leading us to wonder whether his early departure was enough to get ‘Man City expulsion’ into yet another headline. Needed to be a red card, really.
LEWIS DUNK
Bullied and beaten by Romelu Lukaku in the build-up to the second goal. England’s defence really was fairly catastrophic in that first half. Settled after that error, but England really do need to have their first-choice defenders available this summer or it’s going to be deeply unpleasant this summer.
DECLAN RICE
First Arsenal player to captain England at New Wembley. Tony Adams was captain in the final game at Old Wembley. So that’s nice. Rice has become the most tremendously reliable of performers for England, and this was also a hugely responsible effort in which he was nearly always the deepest of England’s midfield three, releasing Kobbie Mainoo to play a pleasingly advanced role.
KOBBIE MAINOO
Literally impossible to watch his interplay with Jude Bellingham and not get very giddy indeed. Lovely bit of work in the build-up to the equaliser, turning and breaking through the lines before slipping the ball to Bellingham. It’s rarely wise to get too excited or too despondent by anything one sees in a friendly, but against genuinely high-class opposition, England played some really quite lovely and enterprising attacking football and Mainoo’s more progressive instincts than the alternatives alongside Rice was a big part of that.
It would be foolish to pile too much hope and expectation on Mainoo, a man strikingly inexperienced even by the standards of 18-year-old tournament bolters, but that midfield had a life and a purpose and a drive that it hasn’t always. Might, just might, be the missing piece in the midfield puzzle. Watching this front six and thinking about Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka coming into it certainly gave us some fuzzy feelings.
If England emerge from this international break with absolutely nothing other than the knowledge Mainoo is better than Gallagher or Phillips or Henderson or anyone else who might go in there, then it will still have been worth it.
JUDE BELLINGHAM
Ended a slightly niggly night with a composed finish to secure England a deserved draw with the final kick of the game. If we’re going to nitpick, and Bellingham is now of a status and standing where that is what must be done, then his end product had before that been a touch disappointing on too many occasions. Most notably when heading wide from a Joe Gomez cross. But his pass to Toney that ended with England winning a penalty was inch-perfect and the interplay with Mainoo and Foden was often really very lovely indeed. He’s now the sort of player where even his 6/10 games are worth watching. Right to the end.
PHIL FODEN
One of his better games for England, showing far more of what might be termed Man City Foden. We should all definitely want to see more Man City Foden in England colours. Clearly relished Mainoo’s more progressive contribution, with the two frequently swapping positions in the second half with Foden running from deep and collecting the ball in the centre-circle before striding forward with purpose.
JARROD BOWEN
Really, really good. A performance full of neat touches and intelligent runs that started with a first-minute sprint and cross from the right to create a chance for Ivan Toney and continued in that vein throughout, with his final contribution before making way setting up a chance from which Foden should have done better.
Won’t have done enough to play his way into the starting XI, because Bukayo Saka, but has surely cemented a squad place which is in itself no mean feat given England’s attacking options.
IVAN TONEY
Another significant plus for England during a damp defeat. Looks very much like he belongs at international level, made clever runs all night, won and converted his penalty like a 50-cap veteran and has given himself an advantage in the Harry Kane Back-up role that it will be hard now for Ollie Watkins or anyone else to reel in.
The goal was obviously welcome, but there was much more to Toney’s performance than the goal. His hold-up play was at times Kane-like, and he was able to bring the ball-players around and behind him into the game far more effectively than Watkins managed on Saturday night. The harsh reality of friendlies at this point in the calendar is that they are riddled with such intra-squad battles. Watkins did little particularly wrong, but Toney won this scrap decisively.
SUBSTITUTES
JOE GOMEZ (for Stones, 10)
Nowhere to be seen when Youri Tielemans ran on to Romelu Lukaku’s delicious cross to head home the second, but it was notable that his contributions to England’s often really very good attacking play were far more assured and consistent than those of a specialist (albeit a rusty one) in Chilwell on the other flank. Given the various injury clouds England’s first-choice defenders are currently under, Gomez’s ability to do a serviceable job anywhere across the back four means he is a pretty crucial suqad member now.
JAMES MADDISON (for Mainoo, 74)
Spent 15 minutes looking more likely to get sent off than anything useful, but then popped up with a brilliantly clever assist for that late Bellingham equaliser. The irony here, of course, is that it’s Bellingham’s drifting into an ever more attacking role that has blocked Maddison’s route to the XI. They instinctively now want to operate in the same areas, and Maddison doesn’t offer as much as some others in those wide attacking roles.
That was a timely reminder of his quality, though. If England find themselves without Bellingham or Foden at any stage, Maddison arguably offers the closest match in terms of defence-opening cleverness. Given the way England can sometimes struggle to unlock those doors…
ANTHONY GORDON (for Bowen, 80)
There’s some cause and effect involved for sure, but unlucky, really, to be involved from the start in the stodgier of England’s attacking performances. Didn’t have much chance to make an impact here after replacing a man who absolutely had.
OLLIE WATKINS (for Toney, 80)
There’s some cause and effect involved for sure, but unlucky, really, to be involved from the start in the stodgier of England’s attacking performances. Didn’t have much chance to make an impact here after replacing a man who absolutely had.
