12 Man Utd players who moved directly to Everton - and where they are now

Manchester United will be aiming to halt their losing run this weekend as they take on Everton.

The Red Devils welcome the Toffees to Old Trafford on Saturday off the back of consecutive Premier League defeats to Fulham and Manchester City. A familiar face might be aiming to do Erik ten Hag ’s side damage.

Man United academy graduate James Garner is now a key member of the Everton side. He is far from the first former Red Devil to return to Old Trafford after a move to Merseyside.

In fact, 12 players in the Premier League era have departed Man United for Everton. Take a look at how they have all got on after their respective moves...

The first player to move to Goodison Park from Old Trafford in the Premier League era, the winger had spent four years as a Red Devil. In that time, he had helped the club to two league titles.

Kanchelskis would become Everton’s record signing in 1995 and enjoyed a bright start to life as a Toffee with two goals in a memorable Merseyside derby victory against Liverpool. Financial problems then saw him sold on to Italian side Fiorentina.

Since then, he represented Rangers, Manchester City and Southampton. He has also embarked on a managerial career and is in charge of Muras United of Kyrgyzstan.

A Man United academy graduate, O’Kane broke through around the same time as the Class of ‘92. But he did not get the same amount of opportunities as some of his glittering former teammates.

He was afforded just seven appearances for the Red Devils before being sold for around £1m. The defender became a key player for Everton and helped them stay up on the final day of the season.

Walter Smith’s arrival at Goodison saw O’Kane fall down the pecking order before being sold to Bolton. He retired in 2006 with Hyde United.

Arguably most famous for being substituted off, Blomqvist was the man to be replaced by Teddy Sheringham in the 1999 Champions League final win against Bayern Munich. It didn’t get much better than that during his time as a Red Devil.

Injuries limited Blomqvist to just 25 appearances in three seasons before he moved to Everton on a short-term deal. He was at Goodison Park for just eight months before leaving for Charlton.

Blomqvist had a brief spell in coaching and also became a pundit in his home country. He won Celebrity Masterchef in Sweden last year and already owns a pizzeria.

After 386 appearances for Man United, Phil Neville moved to Everton in 2005 and went on to become an equally as popular player at Goodison. He enjoyed a successful six-year spell at the club, captaining the Toffees and helping them to the 2009 FA Cup final.

The former defender retired from football in 2013 with 59 England caps to his name. He has since embarked on a career in management.

He joined Nuno Espirito Santo as his assistant coach at Valencia before his first role with England Women. Neville has since been in MLS with Inter Miami and was appointed as Portland Timbers boss back in November last year.

After joining Man United from New York Red Bulls, American goalkeeper Howard made 77 appearances for the club. Initially moving to Everton on-loan, he was eventually snapped up by the Toffees on a full-time basis.

Howard became a legendary figure at Goodison Park and racked up over 400 appearances before returning to his homeland with Colorado Rapids. He eventually retired with second-tier American outfit Memphis 901.

Howard also holds a role as sporting director and minority owner with the club. He has also acted as a pundit on a number of occasions, while he is also an international ambassador for former club Everton.

A two-time Premier League winner during his time with the Red Devils, Saha actually put together a very respectable goalscoring record with the club. Nevertheless, his time with the side was punctured by injuries.

The Frenchman was moved on after four years to sign for Everton. He struggled with even more injuries with the Toffees, but still scored in the FA Cup final.

After that, he signed for Tottenham, Sunderland and Lazio. Like Howard, he has regularly been seen as a TV pundit while he has also pursued a number of business ventures.

Another player unfortunately beset by injuries throughout his career, Gibson was afforded just 60 appearances for Man United across seven seasons. He joined the Toffees in 2011 for a nominal fee.

Injuries once again ruined his time with Everton ahead of subsequent moves to Sunderland, Wigan and Salford City. Since retiring, Gibson has bravely opened up on an addiction with sleeping pills.

Another Man United academy prospect to quit the club for Everton, Cleverley had a very similar career to Gibson. He made just under 80 appearances for the Red Devils alongside loan spells with Leicester, Watford, Wigan and Aston Villa.

A permanent move to Goodison came in 2015 but Cleverley stayed for just 18 months before a move to Watford. He had represented the Hornets for six-and-a-half years before retiring in 2023. Cleverley has since taken up a role coaching the club’s under-18 side alongside some ambassadorial commitments.

A £25m signing for the Red Devils in 2015, he was sold at a loss just two seasons later. Schneiderlin had previously impressed with Southampton but was at Old Trafford for just one full campaign.

The Frenchman’s career with the Toffees was slightly longer as he made 88 appearances over three-and-a-half years. He left for French side Nice and has gone on to play for Western Sydney Wanderers, Konyaspor and Greek side Kifisia.

An Everton academy graduate, the England icon secured a move to Man United in 2004. He went on to become the club’s record goalscorer, winning five Premier League titles, the Champions League and a whole host of other trophies.

With his time at Old Trafford coming to an end in 2017, he was allowed to pursue a move back to his former club. He netted 11 times in 40 games before moves to DC United and Derby County.

He has had managerial spells with both sides since retiring. Rooney recently oversaw a disastrous stint with Birmingham and was sacked after just two wins in 15 games.

Signed to plenty of excitement, Donny van de Beek has endured an awful time of things with Man United. Injuries have limited him to just 62 appearances in four seasons.

The Dutchman has pursued a couple of loan moves in an effort to get back on track. One of those involved a six-month loan spell with Everton but he made just seven appearances and scored one goal. Van de Beek now finds himself with German side Eintracht Frankfurt.

The most recent direct transfer between the two sides, Garner made just seven appearances for the Red Devils, while he also had loan stints with Watford and Nottingham Forest. In a search for regular football, he moved to Everton in 2022.

Garner made 17 appearances in his debut campaign and is on track to at least double that this term. The midfielder’s current contract on Merseyside runs until the summer of 2026.