Manchester United have confirmed that Marouane Fellaini has left the club to join Chinese side Shandong Luneng after five and a half years at Old Trafford.
The Belgian completed a £27.5m move to Man United from Everton in 2013 and was the only summer addition made by incoming manager David Moyes.
He made 177 appearances in total for United, winning three major trophies in the process, but has been shunned by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer since the Norwegian took over from Jose Mourinho.
The club confirmed on social media that Fellaini had completed a move to the Chinese Super League for a fee of around £10.5m.
Wishing you all the best for the future, @Fellaini. A big thank you for everything at #MUFC!
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 1, 2019
No other United player has come to symbol the club’s drop in standards since 2013 more than Fellaini, so often the Plan B option when chasing a lost cause in injury time, the ball just sailing towards that big old afro, over and over again. We know the sight so well.
But this is criminally unfair towards an individual who, despite everything, never did anything other than give his absolute best. Head down, no complaints, always there to carry out the manager’s demands.
And when others – usually more coveted and ‘fashionable’ players – were nowhere to be seen, Fellaini provided big goals: scoring the goal to secure Champions League football in 2015; scoring in the League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League semi-final; goals against Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
He was also, without trying, exceptionally funny at times, like an absurd concept of a footballer rather than a United midfielder. Personally, it made me love him all the more. We wish him well on his adventure to the East.