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.

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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.

Everton gaffer Sam Allardyce has made it clear Ross Barkley is available to the Premier League’s top clubs this month, claiming the Toffees are expecting offers to arrive before the end of the January transfer window.

The 24-year-old is one of the top talents at Goodison Park but hasn’t featured for the Merseysiders since his move to Chelsea collapsed during the final days of the summer window due to a long-term injury.

It seems Allardyce is already planning for life without the 22-cap England international but could the attacking midfielder still make one final outing for his boyhood club?

Everton travel to Anfield this weekend to take on local rivals Liverpool in the Third Round of the FA Cup, when we usually see Premier League managers make significant changes to their starting line-up following a hectic Christmas period.

And while it may seem wasteful to start a player who looks set to leave before the end of the month, an outing at Anfield could be just the ticket for reminding potential suitors of Barkley’s abilities.

So, should Barkley make a shock start against Liverpool on Friday night? Let us know by voting below…

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According to reports in the Daily Mail, Swansea City have made an enquiry to sign out of favour AC Milan striker Andre Silva having been rebuffed in an attempt to bring Atletico Madrid’s Kevin Gameiro to the Liberty Stadium.

New Swans boss Carlos Carvalhal is keen to bring in a new centre-forward before the January transfer window slams shut, with his team bottom of the table and four points from safety having only scored 14 goals in 23 Premier League matches this season.

Silva only joined AC Milan in a £32m deal from FC Porto last summer, but while he has impressed during their Europa League campaign he has struggled in Serie A, with French media outlet Le10Sport reporting in December that the 22-year-old has failed to live up to expectations since his move to the San Siro.

Meanwhile, Southampton are another team in danger of dropping into the Championship as they only lie one place and one point above the relegation zone following a disappointing campaign under Mauricio Pellegrino.

The Argentine boss will be desperate to boost his squad before January 31 – especially after losing out to Everton for top target Theo Walcott – and bringing Silva to St Mary’s could prove to be a shrewd move.

Here are three reasons Saints must hijack Swansea’s bid to sign the Portugal international…

They need a centre-forward

With Charlie Austin absent with a hamstring injury and expected to be sidelined for the foreseeable future, Southampton are missing a target man in their side with Shane Long and Manolo Gabbiadini struggling to make an impact in that role.

Bringing Andre Silva to St Mary’s would certainly go some way to solving that issue as the 6ft 1in striker has proven he can perform well in the centre-forward spot for FC Porto, AC Milan and Portugal, and he looks to be available this month.

Goals

While Silva is yet to score a Serie A goal for AC Milan – although the majority of his 12 appearances have come from the substitutes’ bench – he has netted eight times in 10 Europa League outings.

Having found the net 24 times in 58 games for previous club Porto and with 11 in 18 caps for Portugal, the 22-year-old is decent in the air and has shown that he can score on a regular basis if he is given opportunities.

Southampton need a striker that can score consistently in the absence of Austin, and Silva may fit the bill.

Point to prove

Considering his impressive goal record in the Europa League, Silva will certainly feel hard done by that he has often found himself behind Nikola Kalinic – and sometimes youngster Patrick Cutrone – in the pecking order in Serie A.

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If the 22-year-old does move on this month – either on loan or on a permanent basis – he will certainly have a point to prove to AC Milan, and he will want to get on the goal trail before the World Cup this summer.

That is something that could be vital for Southampton as they look to secure their Premier League status this season.

Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.

West Ham United manager David Moyes was spotted in the crowd as Chelsea hosted Norwich City in their FA Cup third round replay tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, and Irons fans have urged him to sign Canaries attacking midfielder James Maddison, who is also a reported £20m target for rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

The east London outfit have been heavily linked with a move for Michy Batshuayi in recent days with Andy Carroll said to be wanted by the Premier League holders, but Moyes may have been more impressed with what he saw from Maddison even though the Belgium international was on the score-sheet.

The Evening Standard reported earlier this week that Spurs are keen on the 21-year-old, who has scored eight goals and provided a further eight assists in 30 appearances in all competitions this season, although any club that wants him this month will have to pay £20m.

West Ham supporters were quick to have their say on his display at the Bridge via social media, and while one said “would love him at West Ham”, another labelled him as the “next big talent”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

According to The Sun, Juventus are interested in signing Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere on a free transfer at the end of the season.

What’s the story?

Wilshere has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround at Arsenal over the last few months. The midfielder struggled to break into the first team in the early stages of the 2017-18 campaign, but has been a key player for the Gunners in recent weeks.

Indeed, the 26-year-old has gone from surplus to requirements at Bournemouth to being mentioned as a potential captain for the London club next season.

The fact of the matter is that Wilshere is yet to agree a new contract with Arsenal, however, meaning that – as it stands – he will be a free agent at the end of the season.

According to The Sun, Juventus are well aware of the situation at the Emirates Stadium, and the Italian champions believe that they could turn Wilshere’s head with an offer.

Arsenal are said to be confident of signing Wilshere to a new deal, but the Alexis Sanchez situation will be worrying a number of the club’s fans at this stage of the campaign.

How is Wilshere performing?

Wilshere’s talent has never really been questioned. His temperament and ability to stay free from injury? Sure. But there has never been a question over his qualities on the field.

The 26-year-old has scored once and provided two assists in 13 Premier League appearances for Arsenal during the 2017-18 campaign.

He also scored once and provided two assists in six Europa League group fixtures, and has been one of Arsenal’s better players during a difficult period for Arsene Wenger’s side.

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Wilshere, who is valued at £16.2m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has been involved in every Premier League game for Arsenal since their 3-1 defeat to Manchester United at the start of December, suggesting that his injury problems are behind him.

Arsenal simply have to agree a new deal with Wilshere in the coming weeks, but Juventus will be waiting in the wings as they look to sign a player that could thrive in Serie A.

On Sunday evening, one of the most dramatic finales to a Premier League game this season finally ended with Harry Kane scoring his 100th goal in the Premier League.

It was an achievement of some repute, and not just because he’s managed to join the 100 club faster than all but one player in the league’s history, nor because he’s managed to do it by scoring in just 63 games. It’s impressive for the way he did it at Anfield alone.

Kane stepped up to take a highly controversial penalty in front of the Kop end after having missed one just minutes earlier and seen his mistake apparently punished by Mohamed Salah’s special goal at the other end. If the stakes weren’t obviously clear the first time he stepped up, they were crystal clear by the time he was taking the second.

Then there’s the fact that it wasn’t just the missed penalty earlier in the game which would have been weighing him down. Kane was simply off form, touching the ball barely enough times to get him into the double digits in terms of stats. He touched the ball fewer times than any other starter, and completed fewer passes, too.

There were one or two chances missed in a game which simply didn’t go his way, and when he was faced with a penalty which looked at the time as though it could be a winner at the end of normal time (and before all hell broke loose afterwards) it was actually little surprise he missed it.

It had looked as though he was off form. It was a sub-par performance whose problems had nothing to do with application or effort, he was quite simply unable to get it right. It happens sometimes, especially when you’re as prolific as Kane is – it would be unreasonable to expect greatness every game.

To be clear, no stats back-up any assertion that Kane was about to hit a goal drought. He had scored 12 in his last eight starts before the trip to Anfield and was only one shy of that 100 milestone, and such records are often enough to weigh on your mind in the first place.

But he hadn’t scored against Manchester United at Wembley, nor had he scored against Liverpool right up until the pressure penalty at the end. And with things not going his way I was certainly starting to wonder whether we were experiencing the first few moments of a loss of form.

Which makes me now wonder whether that penalty was actually one of the most important goals he’ll score for Tottenham.

The upshot of such a thrilling game is fairly banal. It doesn’t really matter that much to the table. Neither team lost, which means neither gained a huge advantage over the other in the race for a top four spot, and there is now quite a bunching-up between third and fifth after Chelsea’s defeat on Monday night. Indeed, even sixth place Arsenal are still in with a shout.

But it did mean a lot more than that.

This is a run of fixtures where Tottenham are having to dig deep. To face Manchester United and Liverpool in successive Premier League fixtures is one thing, but to have Arsenal at the weekend and then Juventus straight after that is a cruel and unusual run of fixtures, especially for a club like Spurs, who haven’t done well in top six games of late. Throw into the mix an FA Cup replay against Newport County – which should be fine but is a potential banana skin to take as seriously as stretched resources will allow – and it’s a period where Mauricio Pochettino’s side will be revved to the max.

And that suggests that Kane’s goal might well turn out to be the most important of all the 100 top flight goals he’s scored for Spurs.

Why? Because if he was to go another game without scoring, and if his side were to slump to their first defeat since mid-December away to a rampant Manchester City, then Tottenham’s momentum would have been clipped at the worst possible time. Form, too, is not like a tap that you can just turn on and off – to be a striker off form is to be struggling with a psychological and emotional issue from which it can be difficult to extract yourself.

All of that is to say that had he not scored, it would at least suggest that Spurs would be in a bit of trouble this week, sweating on the current goalscoring abilities of the one player who appears to guarantee them goals.

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That’s not to proclaim everything well, of course. Kane has played a full 90 minutes six times in less than a month, and all six times in a row. It would be understandable if he’s feeling tired and off form. And then there’s the question of how much that penalty will actually stop him from losing that form anyway: if the problem is deeply rooted enough, just scoring a penalty at the second attempt when the keeper dives the wrong way isn’t necessarily proof of a return to form.

But the emotion, and the importance of the goal, not to mention the psychological effect it will have, are also important factors.

This won’t be the most important game Harry Kane ever plays for Tottenham. A last-minute escape against Liverpool keeps Spurs closer to the top four than they would otherwise have been, but they’re only one point behind Chelsea today. Had he missed, they’d be just two.

But the real power of that goal might just come in stopping a terribly-timed goal drought just when Tottenham feared it most.

Tottenham Hotspur have long been linked with a move for Fulham starlet Ryan Sessegnon.

The 17-year-old burst onto the scene last season and impressed everyone with his contribution of five goals and three assists in 26 Championship appearances.

In the current campaign, the teenager has improved by finding the back of the net 12 times and creating four goals in 33 league outings.

It is no surprise that Sessegnon’s form has resulted in the media linking him with numerous clubs.

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Most would be delighted to snap up a top talent, and according to a former Fulham striker, Tottenham Hotspur have already sealed the left-sided player’s signature.

While speaking on the Totally Football Show, Leroy Rosenior claimed that a “deal has been done” for Sessegnon to join a new club at the end of the season.

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The 53-year-old added that “strong rumours” are circulating that Spurs are the club that have beaten everyone else in the race.

In response to Rosenior’s claims, some fans were not left very convinced, while others prayed that the speculation was true.

Manchester United came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 in dramatic fashion on Monday night to ensure they go back ahead of Liverpool and into second in the Premier League.

That was a much-needed boost for the Red Devils ahead of their crunch clash against their bitter rivals on Saturday afternoon.

Jose Mourinho has some absentees to contend with ahead of his latest showdown with Jurgen Klopp and we’ve taken a closer look at when the former Real Madrid manager can expect Marouane Fellaini and Marcos Rojo back, as per PremierInjuries. 

Marouane Fellaini

When was he injured?: Fellaini was only on the pitch for seven minutes of January’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham at Wembley. He was introduced as a second-half substitute but was swiftly withdrawn after suffering a recurrence of the knee injury that has plagued him.

Potential return date: 31/03/2018

Will he missed?: The emergence of Scott McTominay and the return of Michael Carrick has bolstered United’s midfield options. Fellaini can be a useful Plan B to aim long balls at when things are going badly but Mourinho’s men have come from behind to win their last two matches without the Belgian. He also looks set to leave the club in the summer as he has still not signed a new contract so getting used to life without him isn’t the worst thing for United to do.

What the manager said: “We are going to lose him for a few weeks. Two, three four or five, I cannot say at the moment.” (February 2)

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Marcos Rojo

When was he injured?: Rojo has been in and out of the side since being forced off with a head injury in December’s Manchester derby. His only match time in March was in the 2-0 FA Cup win over Huddersfield and he hasn’t played in United’s last four games.

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Potential return date: 10/03/18

Will he be missed?: There is an argument to be made that Rojo’s full-blooded approach is perfect for such a hotly-contested match. On the flip side, he can be impetuous and get carried away. Also, he could get drawn into tackles by Liverpool’s rapid front three and get himself into all sorts of trouble. It’s a big week coming up for United and he might need to sit it out to get back fully fit and confident. He can’t be risked.

Michael Oliver has been appointed referee of this weekend’s clash between Manchester City and Chelsea. The two sides meet at the Etihad on Sunday with one flying high at the top of the league and the other reaching a breaking point.

Chelsea need to bounce back from their loss at Old Trafford, but have drawn both matches refereed by Oliver this season. Chelsea fans would do well to remember Oliver at the 1-1 draw at Anfield – there were no cards in that match. The other Chelsea match Oliver has taken charge of is a bit more memorable, a 0-0 draw with Arsenal in which David Luiz was sent off for a rash tackle.

Oliver has taken charge of Manchester City three times this season, all three of which have resulted in wins for Pep Guardiola’s men, including the 2-1 win at Old Trafford in December and the 3-1 victory over Arsenal earlier in the season. While that may be a confidence boost for City fans, Oliver boasts the second highest away win bias in the league at 39%, so there’s plenty of reason for Chelsea fans to keep faith too.

It’s no surprise that Oliver is often given the biggest matches in the league to take charge of, the 33 year-old is certainly one of the better referees in the league.

Of the 19 men to take charge of a Premier League fixture this season, Oliver is 4th in fouls per game and 6th in yellow cards per game, perhaps no surprise given the amount of heated top six clashes he has had, but surely a recipe for fireworks on Sunday. He also dished out two reds, four yellows and a penalty in a match between Watford and Huddersfield in December.

One stat that could certainly come into play on Sunday – Oliver is fifth amongst Premier League referees for penalties per game, averaging more than one every three games. Here’s to a fiery clash at the Etihad on Sunday.

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Jurgen Klopp raised a few eyebrows by giving Dejan Lovren a start at Old Trafford but it is fair to say that the gamble backfired as the Croatian failed to repay his manager’s faith.

Romelu Lukaku made a point of targeting the former Southampton defender and it led to both Manchester United goals as the Red Devils raced into an unassailable two-goal lead, eventually winning the match 2-1.

The arrival of Virgil Van Dijk in the January transfer window got Reds fans excited about the partnership he could strike up with Joel Matip but it hasn’t quite materialised.

Klopp clearly didn’t trust the partnership to the extent that he wanted to subject it to the Old Trafford pressure but we’re asking you the question; should Matip be reintroduced for the visit of Watford to Anfield in Saturday’s late game.

The threat of Troy Deeney is a similarly physical one to the one posed by Lukaku and Lovren’s – valued at £15.3m by Transfermarkt – confidence is surely likely to be dented after Saturday’s defeat.

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