Manchester United Transfers: Michael Owen and 5 Players United Don't Need

Michael Owen is playing out his retirement at Manchester United, although playing is probably the wrong word.  Manchester United simply don't need him in their squad, and yet he remains.  And he's not the only one.

Signed as a free agent after he assisted Newcastle with their relegation to the Championship, Owen has never been a first-team regular at United and has seen his main role become that of a babysitter in the League Cup.

Along with a few others, Michael Owen is a player Manchester United don't need, and they are simply keeping him so nobody else can have him.

5. Dimitar Berbatov

After a slow start in Manchester, it seemed Dimitar Berbatov had won over his critics and earned a secure starting berth in Sir Alex Ferguson's team, but he is yet another player who seems to have been demoted to the League Cup starting XI.

With Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez playing alongside Danny Welbeck, there hardly seems the need to have a £30 million striker wasting away on the bench, and results have proved that.

United have now scored 26 goals in just nine league games, and Berbatov hasn't scored a single one, showing everyone that he isn't needed.

Expect to see Berbatov sitting on the bench a whole lot more this season, giving some of the other strikers a rest when the League Cup comes around.  

Acting as a very expensive backup plan, Berbatov finds himself no longer needed at United, and could be tempted away in January if another big club come in with the promise of first team football, PSG perhaps?

4. Jonny Evans

Jonny Evans could have seen his chances of staying in the first team fade away with his red card in the 1-6 defeat at the hands of Manchester City.

Evans has been clinging on to a place in the team despite a wealth of defensive talent bursting into the squad to assist veterans Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

Evans, now aged 23 and with over 70 premier league appearances can no longer claim inexperience to be a reason for poor performances, and with Phil Jones and Craig Smalling both performing well and more than capable of deputizing Vidic and Ferdinand, it is Evans who finds himself no longer needed at United.

His saving grace might be the fact that Wes Brown and John O'Shea both left in the summer, but in the long run, Evans will be shown the door himself.  

A move out to a struggling Premier League outfit would be the most likely, with a return to former (loan) club Sunderland to add yet another former United face to the defence could be an option or maybe a move to Bolton to replace Gary Cahill should he move on himself.

3. Darron Gibson

Darron Gibson was linked with a move away from Old Trafford in the summer, in a move that could have seen him join Wes Brown and John O'Shea at Sunderland, but the Northern Irish born midfielder chose to stay at United.

When it is so clear he isn't really needed by the club, it's a mystery why.

In the central midfield role, United already have Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Anderson in addition to Ryan Giggs who would almost certainly play ahead of Gibson, and now, with the emergence of Tom Cleverly as a starter and new signing Phil Jones tested out in the middle of the park, it seems his United playing days are limited.

In the past two seasons Gibson has made an appearance in less than half of United's league games and with the players ahead of him the Irishman could find himself failing to make a single appearance in 2011-12.

With Sunderland stacking their midfield with new signings, their interest in Gibson is long gone, and any move away from Old Trafford will see him, like Jonny Evans moving to a lower Premier League club.

Gibson is good enough to secure a club who are firm in the league and looking to progress, and could find himself strengthening the midfield of Everton or Stoke in January.

2. Frederico Macheda

Italian Frederico Macheda made an immediate impact in his first team career at Manchester United, coming off the best to secure the winning goal in his first two appearances for Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

Since that impressive start though, the striker has failed to impress, scoring only two more times for the club over the next two seasons in his 24 appearances.  As a result, he was sent back to Italy for a loan spell with Sampdoria.

Returning to United after only one goal in 15 appearances for the Italian side, Macheda finds himself a long way down the pecking order at Old Trafford, as Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Dimitar Berbatov, Javier Hernandez and even Michael Owen all on the team sheet ahead of him.

With plenty of top class strikers in the squad a move away is definitely on the cards, although Macheda is young enough to go out on loan once more, and the Italian will probably find himself bolstering the attack of a team like West Ham or Brighton as they push towards the Premier League.

1. Bebe

Bebe is possibly the worst signing Sir Alex Ferguson has ever made, and he is definitely one player not needed at Old Trafford.

The Portuguese youngster signed for Vitoria S.C. in the Primeira Liga of Portugal after his lower league club ( for whom he had only played 26 times) got into financial troubles and allowed him to leave for free.

After appearing in several pre season games for the club, there was a sudden media frenzy around the player, with clubs such as Real Madrid, Benfica and of course Manchester United rumoured to be interested in signing Bebe.

In the end Bebe signed for United for a fee said to be around £7 million before he was able to play in a competitive game for Vitoria, with Ferguson seemingly keen to snap up the player before anyone else.

He probably wishes he didn't now.  Bebe failed to impress at United, and in his first season made only two late appearances as a substitute in the league, along with a handful of cup appearances.  He has since been sent out to Besiktas on loan for a year, presumably in an effort to drum up enough interest to get rid of him permanently.

Where Bebe would go is a mystery, with the only logical options being a permanent move to Turkey if he impresses whilst there, or a return to Portugal, perhaps to former club Vitoria.