2. Ali Dia
The man, the myth, the legend. The striking flop to end all striking flops. Allegedly the cousin of World Player of the Year, George Weah, Graeme Souness was hoodwinked into bringing him to Southampton. He joined in November 1996, made one solitary substitute appearance in place of Matt Le Tissier, before suffering the ignominy of being substituted himself.
Dia had no discernible skill and was utterly out of his depth. He was released two weeks into his contract. Mystery, conspiracy theories and anecdotal evidence have followed Dia around ever since his one appearance in the English top-flight. Who is he? How did he get to where he was? He briefly turned out for Gateshead before disappearing into the unknown.
1. Jozy Altidore
Jozy Altidore played 70 Premier League games for Hull and Sunderland. He scored a grand total of two Premier League goals. After a fairly non-eventful loan spell with Hull in 2009-10, he returned to England in 2013 after a prolific few years in the Dutch league with AZ. Sunderland, managed by Paulo Di Canio, spent £6m on the US international and he repaid their faith with one strike in 42 league games.
Altidore looked big and strong, like anything could hit him and stick. He should have been a colossus, but he just wasn’t. Clumsy on the ball and wild in front of goal it was the worst of combinations to spearhead a struggling Sunderland side battling relegation. He left for Toronto in January 2015, with a strike rate of one goal every 35 games that few Premier League strikers can hope to rival.
SEE ALSO:
- Top 10 Football Clubs That Sold Their Best Players!
- Football Clubs That No Longer Exist – Top 10
- Top 10 Football Traitors/Judases of all time!
- Top 10 highest passers in Premier League 2019/20
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