South Americans are known for their flamboyant attacking football. Known to play with skill and swagger, one would think that they would be a perfect match for a club with a predominantly attacking ethos like Manchester United.
While many South Americans like Rafael, Antonio Valencia, and Carlos Tevez have forged successful careers at United, many of them have failed to perform at the Manchester club due to various reasons, be it conflicts in their style of play, issues settling down or lack of discipline.
While United have a number of South Americans on their books, a number of famous, big ticket South American signings have failed at the club.
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Kleberson
Manchester United bought Kleberson in the summer of 2003 for £6.5million after top transfer target Ronaldinho signed for Barcelona. Kleberson had been signed on the back of impressive performances in the 2002 World Cup so much that Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari described him as the driving force behind their success in the World Cup.
Manchester United had high expectations from Kleberson. His highly regarded talent was hailed by Sir Alex Ferguson as the reason they sold Seba Veron. Bought as a replacement for the Argentine midfielder, Kleberson only scored 2 goals in 20 appearances for the Red Devils and could not influence matches as expected from a World Cup winner.
Manchester United sold him to Turkish side Besiktas for only 2.5 million pounds after just one season. He now plies his trade for Fort. Lauderdale in the North American Football League.
Anderson
Anderson was one of the most highly rated young midfielders in Europe when Manchester United signed him from Porto for £26 million. Known for his exceptional skill and strength, he was supposed to fill the hole in Manchester United’s midfield.
Although he scored the winning penalty in the 2008 Champions League final shootout, Anderson was highly inconsistent and did not impress at Manchester United. Overweight and demotivated, he was known for his love for burgers rather than his skill on the football pitch.
Anderson hardly played for the club, running out his contract till 2014. He was let go on a free transfer to Brazilian club Internacional where he missed a penalty on debut.
Juan Sebastian Veron
Hugely talented Argentinian midfielder Juan “Seba” Veron was signed by Sir Alex Fergusson for £28.1m in 2001. He lacked positional discipline and was a frustrating talent for Sir Alex to manage. He famously did not try to learn even basic English.
Although he was the most expensive transfer in English football then, Veron failed to justify his price tag at Manchester United. He could not adapt to the pace of the Premier League. He was labelled an expensive flop and was shipped off to Chelsea after just two seasons at the club.
Diego Forlan
Uruguayan forward Forlan arrived at Manchester United in the summer of 2002 for £6.9million. He made 13 premier league appearances and 5 Champions League appearances in his first season but did not manage to score a goal.
His most famous moment was scoring a brace in a 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Liverpool in the 2002-2003 season.
Forlan was unable to display his Independiente form for Manchester United, although he did manage to win a Premier League title and a FA Cup during his stint with the Red Devils. He moved to Valencia in 2004 and won the Pichichi trophy, scoring 25 goals.
Radamel Falcao
Great things were expected when Falcao signed for Manchester United on loan from Monaco. He was supposed to be vital to a new look Manchester United attack which would include Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Angel Di Maria and himself.
Collecting a salary of £265,000 a week, Falcao was a massive flop at Manchester United. He managed to score only 4 goals in 29 appearances for the club and was described by many as the worst transfer of the season.
The club decided not to exercise the purchase clause in Falcao’s contract. Falcao now plays for Chelsea where he has again been unimpressive.
Angel Di Maria
Angel Di Maria arrived at Manchester United as a Champions League winner with a huge reputation. Bought for £59.7m, he is Manchester United’s most expensive signing ever.
Di Maria started brightly and scored one of the goals of the season against Leicester City in a 5-3 defeat. Things started going downhill when his house was burgled and numerous fallouts with coach Louis Van Gaal were reported. His position on the field was repeatedly changed and he struggled to adapt and settle in England.
He left Manchester United after one season to play for French giants Paris Saint-Germain saying he couldn’t adapt to Van Gaal and his style of play.
