This summer might be the best thing to happen to Manchester United fans in a long time, but there have certainly been some bad transfer windows in the not too distant past.
The Old Trafford faithful have moaned about having players who aren’t even fit to shine the boots of the likes of Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs, let alone don the United shirt and take to the field for the club.
Fergie might have been a legend, but he also made a few mistakes in the transfer window, and left David Moyes and now Louis van Gaal with a bit of a rebuilding job to do. Yes, there were some world class purchases, but there were also some stinkers, and here are five of the very worst.
Bebe
Amazing on YouTube, utter w*nk in reality. Bebe is the transfer everyone lauds over United and Fergie – and with good reason. What a total disaster. He has to be one of the worst players to ever grace the pitch at Old Trafford, with the £7.4 million man making it more like the Theatre of Nightmares than dreams for the crowd.
He claimed that he initially thought it was a joke that Manchester United wanted to buy him, and the irony there is just too much. Nothing went right for the Portuguese player during his time at United, and it probably didn’t help that the fans and press treated him as a laughing stock, but if the cap fits…
GuardianJuan Sebastian Veron
One Chelsea fans won’t be too happy to hear about. Veron really did come with such high expectation as well, which made it all the more embarrassing for United when he failed to deliver. Chelsea at least came along and spared their blushes with a £15 million bid, but the damage was done.
Fergie fired shots at the player in his autobiography, claiming that he didn’t make an effort with the other players, refused to learn English and was difficult to manage. Proving that it wasn’t just United and Fergie with the problem, Veron went on to flop in west London, at least giving United fans a bit of a laugh.
Eric Djemba-Djemba
So bad they named him twice. What else is there to say about the midfielder who has to rank up there in worst signings in football, let alone for Manchester United?
It pretty much sums it up to say that even after making a £1.5 million move to Aston Villa to try and resurrect his career, the player couldn’t even break into their midfield and ended up being sent out on loan to Burnley. One that Manchester United and Aston Villa fans would probably rather forget if they’re being honest, and someone who could not cut it in the Premier League no matter who he played for.
Djemba-Djemba even tried to play his trade in Scotland for St Mirren, where you’d assume he would find his level, but sadly for the player, the club released him after only six months and three appearances.
Mirror Wilfried Zaha
The last transfer Fergie made, and had he stayed at United, who knows what might have happened to Zaha’s career? As it was, new manager David Moyes didn’t like him at all and even when Zaha was offered the chance to play, he was quickly made the scapegoat for anything that went wrong, which if we’re being honest, under Moyes, was a lot.
Shipped back to Palace, Zaha will be hoping to rebuild his career and make sure that he doesn’t end up on the scrapheap of young, talented players who made a move to a big club too soon, and failed to get a chance to shine. Looking at the summer moves United and Louis van Gaal are now making, you have to admit that even if Zaha was still at the club and given a clean slate, he wouldn’t be able to usurp the talent at Van Gaal’s disposal.
CDNAnderson
When you contribute more to the Manchester fast food economy than the team you’re supposed to be playing for, it’s safe to say things aren’t going well. Anderson cost United a pretty large £20 million when they brought the midfielder to the club, and while some people will probably try and tell you Nani was just as much of a flop, at least the winger tried.
Anderson was overweight and frankly, couldn’t be arsed during his time at Old Trafford, and despite claiming he wanted to be fit and on the ball each and every pre-season, he never really pulled his finger out and it was no shock whatsoever that the club considered actually paying him to leave.
A player who was never going to survive under Louis van Gaal, at least United fans can now look forward to a midfield of Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin, not Anderson and Cleverley.
Kleberson
Narrowly beating out Diego Forlan for a slot, you’d be hard pressed to believe the midfielder was a Brazilian such was his lack of skill on the ball and horrendous first touch at times. He actually won the World Cup as well, and was pretty decent during the tournament, making United think they’d pulled off a cracking bit of business only to last two seasons before being shipped out the back door.
Quite what it was with United and disastrous midfielders during that period of time even Fergie probably doesn’t know, with Kleberson more Championship than Champions League, and someone who United fans roll their eyes when thinking about – before promptly trying to forget all about him.
