A look at ten players who proved to be disappointments for Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
10. Anderson
The Brazilian midfielder was rated as one of the best young talents in the world at Porto, and arrived at Manchester United for a massive £20million in 2007. Despite the occasional show of talent, the 25-year-old surely has to go down as a flop now and money poorly spent by the legendary United manager.
9. Ashley Young
Ashley Young will surely be on his way out of the clubs soon enough, as he just hasn’t lived up to the hype or his price tag since joining from Aston Villa. After an invisible Euro 2012 with England, Young has no goals and just three assists for United this season, which is pretty poor considering he’s got Robin van Persie to aim at now. Has earned little more at Old Trafford than a reputation as a diver.
8. Roy Carroll
It says something about how desperate United’s goalkeeping situation was for a couple of years, as Carroll was often trusted ahead of Fabien Barthez and Tim Howard to be the club’s number one. After failing to save a single penalty in the FA Cup final shoot-out defeat to Arsenal, Fergie was finally convinced it was time to move him on after somehow managing to last four years at Old Trafford. The Northern Irishman’s career hasn’t exactly been glittering since, with spells in the Championship and Greece following his time with the Red Devils.
7. Laurent Blanc
Blanc was a long-term target for Ferguson, who eventually landed his man in 2001. However, by that time he was 35 years old and clearly past it. It’s fair to say the French centre-back was the wrong choice as a replacement for Jaap Stam (who should also never have been let go by the United boss) and quickly found himself on the bench at Old Trafford.
6. Kleberson
The Brazilian World Cup winner may only have cost £6.5million, but he certainly goes down as a bad piece of business, as he made basically no impact in his two years at Old Trafford. One of many poor signings in that period for Ferguson, who looked to have lost his touch for a while, going three years without winning the Premier League.
5. Eric Djemba-Djemba
So bad they named him twice? Ferguson thought he had unearthed a real gem in Djemba-Djemba when he signed him for £3.5million in 2003, but the Cameroon midfielder was shown the door just two years later. He has since had stints in Qatar, Denmark and Israel, which should give you some indication about how his career has gone. One to forget for Fergie.4. Jordi Cruyff
The son of the legendary Johan Cruyff, Jordi was far from being United material. Remarkably, he stayed for four seasons at Old Trafford, which probably owed more to his surname than any actual talent. He spent the rest of a low-key career in Spain and Malta, and is another one of those players whose chance at a big club leaves you scratching your head.
3. Juan Sebastian Veron
Another expensive flop, the Argentinian playmaker caused a great deal of excitement when Ferguson signed him from Lazio for £28million, but he simply could not adapt to the pace of the English game. He joined Chelsea for nearly half the price just two years later, and could not establish himself there either.
2. Diego Forlan
“He comes from Uruguay, he made the scousers cry” – those two goals against Liverpool at Anfield proved to be the highlight of Forlan’s Manchester United career. Despite going on to prove a great striker in La Liga with Villareal and Atletico Madrid, his time in England will be remembered for glaring misses and a long wait to get on the score sheet, going half a season before netting his first goal for the club. Not so much Ferguson’s fault, but perhaps one he stuck with for too long.1. Bebe
Surely the worst of the lot, Ferguson signed Portuguese forward Bebe on the recommendation of his assistant Carlos Queiroz, having never actually seen him play. The relative unknown still cost United £7million and never managed to break into the first-team, later revealing that he couldn’t understand a lot of what Fergie was saying and that he didn’t take his time at the club very seriously. He is currently out on loan in Portugal and they are unlikely to be able to find someone willing to take him off their hands permanently. It’s bizarre to think one of the greatest managers in the history of the game could make such a poor judgement call.