In the aftermath of Manchester City’s capture of the hugely-talented Sergio Aguero, we take a look at five South Americans who just couldn’t cut it in England. No pressure, Kun.
Juan Sebastian Veron (Manchester United)
Signed for a massive £28.1 million in 2001, Veron is widely regarded as the most expensive flop in Premier League history, although the fact that he got his United career off to a flyer and won a Premier League Player of the Month award soon after his arrival has been conveniently overlooked.
Tremendously gifted but a bit lazy and one-paced, Veron never adapted to the demands of the Premier League and it was no real surprise when he was shipped off to Chelsea in a cut-price deal after two miserable years at Old Trafford.
Veron is the subject of two rather amusing anecdotes in the autobiographies of United players he shared a dressing room with.
Ryan Giggs revealed that he took him for a night on the town soon after he arrived in Manchester, but lacking a language to converse in, the two players simply ‘waved their arms around a lot’, while he is widely believed to have been the unnamed player referred to by Roy Keane who was ‘shaking with fear’ prior to a Champions League semi-final with Bayer Leverkusen.
Sir Alex Ferguson certainly didn’t take too well to criticism of the player, once telling journalists: “He’s a fu**ing great player. You are all fu**ing idiots.”
Robinho (Manchester City)
At his best, he was magnificent; at his worst, he was a liability and perhaps who Andy Gray really had in mind when he hypothetically questioned Lionel Messi’s ability to cope on a ‘cold night in Stoke’.
Signed for £32 million under the noses of Chelsea in 2008, Robinho showed signs of the ability that persuaded City to shell out so much in his opening campaign, but faded badly in his second season and it was no surprise that he was turfed off to first Santos and then AC Milan at a loss of around £16 million.
Diego Forlan (Manchester United)
Anyone who watched Forlan during his early spell at Manchester United would scarcely be able to believe the magnificent player he has become since. Something of a surprise signing from Independiente, Forlan couldn’t do anything right following his arrival at Old Trafford in 2002, and took 27 games to open his United account. Have a look at the clip below to help understand why.
Spoilsport Roy Keane famously wouldn’t let him take a penalty in a game in which United had already won, while in another game in which he did score, he couldn’t get his jersey back on after taking it off in celebration and was ordered off the pitch by the referee despite winning the ball back.
That incident endeared him to the Old Trafford faithful, as did two goals at Anfield in a 2-1 victory over Liverpool and he eventually became a decent player in a red jersey before being offloaded to Villarreal in 2004. Forlan still retains an affection for the club and the feeling is more than mutual, as is evident from the ‘Diego’ chants which ring around Old Trafford to this day.
Roque Junior (Leeds United)
He won a World Cup with Brazil, so he must be good, right? Eh, wrong. As Manchester United learned with Kleberson, signing a Brazilian (on loan) on the back of a good World Cup campaign is not a pre-requisite to a sterling Premier League career.
A spectacularly bad signing even by Leeds’ standards, Roque Junior was sent off on his debut and the team conceded 24 goals in the seven games he played for the Elland Road outfit.
It didn’t get any better for poor Roque afterwards, unfortunately. Following his departure from Leeds, he racked up a miniscule 57 appearances in six years for a host of clubs including Siena, Bayer Leverkusen, Palmeiras and Qatari outfit Al Rayyan Sports Club.
Mario Jardel (Bolton Wanderers)
One a goalscoring machine, Jardel wasn’t exactly in the best physical shape when he arrived at the Reebok and Sam Allardyce must have been worried at the sight of a player that looked more like himself than a finely-tuned athlete.
Zero goals in seven appearances was Jardel’s record at the Trotters and a man who was known as ‘Super Mario’ by supporters of one of his previous clubs, Galatasaray, endured a decline to the extent that he was labelled Mario ‘Lard-El’ by Bolton fans and fans of his subsequent club, Ancona, because of his rotund appearance.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
