Five Italy-bound Manchester United players

By Liam Apicella, Features Editor | 05 March 2014

As Nemanja Vidic agrees to join Inter Milan, Sports Mole has looked at five other Manchester United players that have left Old Trafford for Italian clubs.

Inter Milan confirmed earlier today that Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic had agreed to join them at the end of the season.

The Serbian centre-back, who signed for United back in January 2006, will depart Old Trafford having won a total of 15 trophies.

He is, of course, not the first player to have left United in favour of continuing their career in Italy. Below, Sports Mole has looked back on how five former Red Devils fared in Serie A.

1. Carlo Sartori

Born in Italy, Sartori's family moved to the Collyhurst area of Manchester when he was a child. He rose through the ranks at United under the guidance of Sir Matt Busby and Jimmy Murphy, making his debut in October 1968. After 56 appearances and six goals, the midfielder returned to his homeland in 1973 to link up with Bologna. Following that, he had stints with Lecco, SPAL 1907, Rimini and Trentino prior to his retirement in 1984.

2. Ray Wilkins

As Sartori was calling time on his career, Wilkins was leaving United to sign for AC Milan. The England international cost the Italians £1.5m and although he adapted quickly to life at the San Siro, it was a relatively unsuccessful period for the club, despite the fact that the likes of Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi were part of the squad. Wilkins left in 1987 for Paris Saint-Germain to make room for Dutch trio Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard.

3. Paul Ince

It came as something as a surprise that Sir Alex Ferguson allowed Mark Hughes, Andrei Kanchelskis and Ince to leave United during the summer of 1995. The latter of the trio headed for Inter, where he would spend two seasons. His time in Milan would end without a trophy, although he did feature as the Nerazzurri reached the 1997 UEFA Cup final, where they were defeated on penalties by Schalke 04. During that summer, he joined United's bitter rivals Liverpool.

Paul Ince in action for Inter Milan on May 21, 1997. © Getty Images

4. Jaap Stam

It took a lot for Ferguson to admit to a mistake during his tenure at the United helm, but he did confess to a misjudgment where centre-back Stam was concerned. The United boss was believed to have been angered by comments made by the Dutch international in his autobiography regarding the way that United had pursued him before his arrival from PSV Eindhoven in 1998. Stam was duly sold to Lazio for £15m in 2001, while Ferguson replaced the defender with an ageing Laurent Blanc.

5. Paul Pogba

Ferguson may not freely confess on this occasion, but it's look increasingly likely that he also made an error with Pogba. The French international shone for the club's youth side, but Ferguson was reluctant to promote him to the senior side on a regular basis, despite a lack of midfield options. It meant that when he was offered a new contract by United, the midfielder kept his options open, before opting to join Juventus in the summer of 2012. Since then, Pogba has become one of the most sought-after players in world football.