With Angel Di Maria departing Manchester United and Pedro reportedly set to replace him, our Red Devils fans in the Football Transfer Tavern are questioning just where he belongs on a list of all-time United flops.
In truth, United’s record signing actually started quite well and will most fondly be remembered for that sumptuous goal away at Leicester City last term despite going down 5-3 in one of the most entertaining games of the season.
From there on in however, it was a steady decline for the former Real Madrid winger who got sent off against Arsenal in the FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford before becoming a high profile substitute behind the likes of Ashley Young at the tail end of the campaign.
Despite turning out to be an incredibly disappointing signing given the lavish fee that was splashed on his talents, our United fans agree there have been a series of other players who were that much worse than the Argentine during their respective spells at Old Trafford.
Before we reveal too much, our United supporting punters have put their heads together while devising their five worst Manchester United players of all-time.
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Click on the image below to reveal what we believe to be the 5 worst Manchester United players of all-time.
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Massimo Taibi
Just the utterance of ‘Massimo Taibi’ strikes up nightmares for Manchester United fans who in association with his pronunciation comes not so fond memories of a home fixture with Southampton in September 1999.
Turning out to be the game which defined his short and not so sweet spell at Old Trafford, the Italian stopper endured an absolute nightmare between the sticks on that day where he let a long range strike from Matt Le Tissier slither from under his grasp.
In one of those moments that will forever adorn own goals and gaffes-type DVDs, Taibi was later branded the ‘Blind Venetian’ by the press and he exited Manchester United having only made four Premier League appearances.
Kleberson
Part of the star studded Brazil squad that won their fifth World Cup in 2002, Kleberson was a key member of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team and this was enough to persuade Sir Alex Ferguson to splash £6.5 million on his services for the 2003/4 season.
To cut a long story short, Kleberson ended up departing Old Trafford in 2015 and in that time, he had only made 20 Premier League appearances for the Red Devils.
In fairness, it could’ve all been so different for the midfielder but in his second appearance for United he was injured and dramatically lost his way thereafter.
Signed as a replacement for another high profile United flop who we’ll reveal in our next few slides, central midfield proved a problem area for some time for Fergie down the years.
Bebe
The mother of all Premier League flops, let alone at Manchester United, Bebe was brought into Old Trafford as one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s worst ever signings.
Infamously signed by Fergie who didn’t even see DVD evidence of Bebe’s potential or lack thereof, blink and you would’ve missed the Portuguese attacker’s spell at the club.
Playing just two times for United in the Premier League over a four-year period, if you were at Scunthorpe’s Glanford Park ground for a League Cup fixture in September 2010, you would’ve been lucky – or unlucky – enough to witness this flop in the flesh.
Sent packing to conclude loan spells with Besiktas, Rio Ave and Pacos de Ferreira, eyebrows were raised when Bebe managed to secure a permanent switch to Benfica a year ago but since then, he’s suffered the same fate of making a lack of impact at a top club and is now on loan with Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.
Eric Djemba-Djemba
Still playing to this day, in the Indonesian Super League no less, Eric Djemba-Djemba will forever be recalled alongside the likes of Kleberson as one of the worst ever midfielders to grace the club.
Arriving as a relatively unknown prospect in English football back in 2003, it’s rather apt that like the aforementioned Kleberson, the Cameroonian also only went on to make just 20 Premier League appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson.
An incredibly aggressive customer, Djemba-Djemba was often unpredictable and was initially attacked by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger who had claimed the Cameroonian made an ‘obscene’ tackle on Sol Campbell during the FA Community Shield of 2003.
Not content with giving up on making it in England after his United departure, Djemba-Djemba later moved to Aston Villa but given the fact the Villains ended up loaning him to Burnley, this tells you all you need to know about his time spent in this country.
Juan Sebastian Veron
With Kleberson being signed as a replacement for this man, that only serves to tell you just how bad Juan Sebastian Veron’s spell was at Old Trafford.
One of the most famous Argentine exports of all-time of course, Veron can’t add cracking England to his CV and was one of those players who simply didn’t live up to his £28.1 million fee after signing in 2001.
An incredibly lot of money in those days, the fact Veron didn’t live up to the billing didn’t sit well with United supporters and this is why it was all the more surprising that Chelsea moved to sign him thereafter in 2003.
With Chelsea just getting seven Premier League appearances out of Veron compared to the 51 he endured at Old Trafford, the Argentine was a flop in England, no matter which way you paint the picture.