Manchester United: 5 United Players Who No Longer Have a Purpose at Old Trafford

With the vast array of talent flourishing at United this season, it's easy to forget those players who have been out of favour with Sir Alex with regards to team selection.

In truth, there are certain individuals who will be harming their careers by staying with the Red Devils any longer.

It's always sad to see players go—whether they're former first-teamers who have gone off the ball or younger talents from the academy and reserves who promised greatness that was ultimately never achieved.

The Premier League is littered with the latter.

Eagles, Greening, Pugh, Foster, Shawcross, Ebanks-Blake, Higginbotham, Obertan. The list is long and plentiful.

For the majority of these players the move away from Old Trafford at a younger age was a good decision for their careers.

In fact, in the case of Ryan Shawcross, such was his success that Sir Alex even admitted his mistake and began (eventually failed) negotiations to bring the Stoke City defender back to Manchester.

And in regards to the more mature Red Devils that eventually part ways with the club, well, for them it provides the opportunity to have first-team football again before retirement.

It's a good way for them to wind down a successful career while still playing a decent amount of football.

The following list catalogues those players that perhaps no longer are benefiting from staying at the club.

Tomasz Kuszczak

I have always maintained that Tomasz Kuszczak was the best second-string goalkeeper that I ever saw guard the posts—for any side.

The Pole was (and more than likely still is) good enough to be first choice for any team in the league below the top two or three. 

Unfortunately for Tomasz, the United No. 1 happened to be one of the very few keepers in the division who was actually better than him.

Still, at this point his inclusion in the squad every season was of great importance, and I personally always felt that even on those few occasions when Van der Saar was out due to injury, we were barely weaker as a result of such a competent replacement.

However, times are different at Old Trafford now.

With the summer signings of Anders Lindegaard and David de Gea (as well as the promising young talent Ben Amos rising through the ranks) Kuszczak has lost all chance of playing for United again.

Currently on loan to Watford, a permanent move—or a move to any side in the top two divisions of English football—needs to happen soon.

Tomasz was, on occasion, an absolute hero for United, and it will be sad to see him go.

But for his sake, he has to.

Federico Macheda

When Macheda came on to score a wonder goal in a 3-2 victory against Aston Villa three years ago, the future was this man's oyster.

Unfortunately, since then Macheda has shown little to no progression in his United career and as a result was sent out on loan to Queens Park Rangers over the January transfer window.

Let's face it, Macheda is effectively United's sixth-choice striker.

There was speculated hope that this move to London would get his career back on track, and he would eventually be brought back to United and slowly integrated into the first team.

However, despite a far from terrible showing at QPR, Federico has also failed to really impress at the level that you would expect of a United player at a team in the relegation zone.

As a result, it looks like Macheda will be out of United and England by the end of the summer.

Sir Alex is currently in talks with Benfica over signing Argentine midfielder Nicolas Gaitan.

As part of the deal, he wants to offer Macheda to the Portuguese side on a permanent basis.

This would be a good move for the young Italian, and I really hope he considers it.

And who knows, perhaps a decent spell in the Portuguese League will maybe see him someday return to the EPL, or even La Liga or Serie A.

The future is still very bright for this young man.

Bebe

This was perhaps the most bizarre signing Sir Alex has ever made.

The young Portuguese man cost United a whopping £7.4 million from Victoria de Guimaraes (a side for whom he never played first team football) in the August of 2010.

When the then-reserve manager (and former United legend) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw BeBe play, he declared that he wasn't even good enough to make it onto the bench for his side.

Bebe is a talented player, and he does have moments of brilliance, but what possibly possessed Fergie to snap up such an unknown player for so much money is beyond me.

Although still young (21) I can't help but feel that if he was going to prove the critics wrong and suddenly become the player Sir Alex thought he would be, he would have made huge inroads into that by now.

Bebe is currently on loan at Besiktas.

I honestly see no point in him coming back.

Let him thrive in his native country and boost his skills.

United is not Bebe's home and probably never will be—but he can find football elsewhere in Europe.

Maybe. 

Michael Owen

I've always liked Owen.

Yes, even when he played for Liverpool.

But the man who was once arguably the most talented young player in the world just isn't what he was.

When Owen first came to United two years ago, I was ecstatic.

Partly because it was a huge win over on local rivals Pool and partly because, despite not being as good as he was 10 years ago, as a third- or fourth-choice striker he was a cut above the rest.

Unfortunately Michael is now not even that, and staying at United is ruining his chances of ever getting anywhere near to that top level of football again.

Of course I don't expect him to ever be that good again, but he can do better than a 15-minute substitute appearance—in a game we have already won—every 2 or 3 weeks.

For some reason though, Owen seems very content to stay at Old Trafford.

Perhaps he has lost his passion for the game and is just happy to take the pay cheques every week.

Whatever the case, if he's happy than I guess nobody can complain.

But if Michael really wants to get his football back on track, he needs to leave Manchester behind him.

Dimitar Berbatov

This is without a doubt the most controversial player on the list.

Before anyone overreacts, I want to make it clear that I believe Berbatov is still a fantastic player and, if circumstances were different, would easily be good enough to start for United week-in and week-out.

The big Bulgarian has shown this season that he hasn't lost it, as he netted a trademark brace of hat-tricks.

For all those haters (and even some United fans) who criticise Fergie for splashing out so much money, 56 goals in just four seasons (having barely played this year) is a decent return for any striker.

The problem for Dimar now is competition for those striker spots.

Rooney, Wellbeck and Hernandez are all amazing players and have guided United to what could be a 20th League championship.

Berbatov is far too good to be considered a fourth-choice striker and for his sake he needs to move on.

It's not like things will get any easier if he hangs around either, with the likes of Will Keane rising up through the reserves.

I will be terribly sad to see this man leave after four good years of love and hate.

But I can't see Berbs being here come September.