January 23 – Forlan Figure
MANAGERS often live or die by their transfer dealings and Arsene Wenger has consistently proved his adeptness at picking up bargains for a pittance who he then turns into world-beaters.
Sir Alex Ferguson prefers the ‘throw money at the problem’ approach and it was on this day that he shelled out £7.5m for the Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan.
Diego had been doing pretty well for his Argentine club Independiente so buying the 22-year-old player looked like a gamble worth taking, but Ferguson was right in the middle of something of a bad patch when it came to new recruits.
This was part of a spree that would see Ferguson purchase Juan Sebastian Veron, Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba as the Manchester United team went through a period of what the old-boys club that is football punditry would term ‘transition.’
Forlan was thrown straight into the United team but had to wait a full eight months for his first goal, and even that was a penalty against the mighty Maccabi Haifa.
Eight months, 27 games and just one goal is a record that would make even Emile Heskey start to feel a little uncomfortable but Forlan kept going and did eventually start to get a few goals.
Hitting the back of the net was so rare for Diego that in one match against Southampton he took off his shirt in excitement after scoring the winner but then, seemingly unfamiliar with the goal celebration, he got his proverbial knickers in a twist and couldn’t get his shirt back on. For some minutes he raced up and down the pitch contesting the ball while holding his shirt in his hands until the ref put him out of his misery by blowing up to stop play.
After two seasons at Old Trafford which netted only 10 goals in 63 league games Sir Alex finally admitted his mistake and offloaded his ‘striker’ to Villarreal in 2004.
Perhaps the Spanish sun suited Forlan more than Manc drizzle as he somehow transformed from the biggest joke in the Premier League since Ali Dia into Europe’s deadliest marksman.
In his first season in Spain he was top scorer in La Liga with 25 goals which also saw him win the European Golden Boot jointly with Thierry Henry.
These days Diego can be found running up and down the pitch at the Vicente Calderon Stadium with his Atletico Madrid shirt in his hand.
Here he is showing off his ripped bod while he was still a Red Devil and be sure to come back tomorrow for a villain making his escape.
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