Most random players to have played for your club.
- Thread starter Murder on Zidane's Floor
- Start date
I still can't get my head round Alan Brazil playing for us.........
I even saw him score - and it was a screamer too!
I even saw him score - and it was a screamer too!
Stoke - Eidur Gudjohnsen
For United, the first one that comes to mind is Victor Valdes. I still find it bizarre he signed for us, and then disappeared like Phil Jones or Owen Hargreaves.
He got a lot of unpleasant abuse from our fans, but he was clearly crocked when he arrived and a shadow of the player he’d been at Ipswich.I still can't get my head round Alan Brazil playing for us.........
I even saw him score - and it was a screamer too!
United’s fondness for signing unfit players isn’t a recent thing. See also Ians Ure and Storey-Moore.
Memphis Depay playing for Barcelona was weird.
we’ve had lots of questionable transfers in the past 15 years, but I can’t think of any really bizarre ones off the top of my head. Valdes was pretty weird, I guess you could say Nick Powell as well although he was a promising talent when we signed him.
we’ve had lots of questionable transfers in the past 15 years, but I can’t think of any really bizarre ones off the top of my head. Valdes was pretty weird, I guess you could say Nick Powell as well although he was a promising talent when we signed him.
Crystal Palace isn't even the weirdest team David played for
Not my club but David Bentley ending up at a midtable russian club was strange. Think it was Rostov
Valdes is surely our weirdest.
World cup winner!
World cup winner!
Julio Cesar and QPR is a weird one
For us, it has to be Andy Goram. A quality goalkeeper but well past it when he signed as an emergency. Roy Keane utterly despised him.
Few others:
liverpool: Rikki Lambert
city (pre-Sheikh): George Weah
arsenal: Francis Jeffers
leeds: Cantona (way too cool for them)
celtic: Fredrik Ljungberg
rangers: Claudio Caniggia
Few others:
liverpool: Rikki Lambert
city (pre-Sheikh): George Weah
arsenal: Francis Jeffers
leeds: Cantona (way too cool for them)
celtic: Fredrik Ljungberg
rangers: Claudio Caniggia
Many Premier League signings should be weird, but given the money involved, it makes perfect sense. High wages and low consequence.
Ravenelli leaving the Champions of Europe to sign for Middlesbrough is a particular gem.
Ravenelli leaving the Champions of Europe to sign for Middlesbrough is a particular gem.
Henrik Larsson is still the one for me. I think what adds to it is that it was a loan which we never did under Fergie, and the loan was only 10 weeks.
Cambiasso at Leicester
Keylor Navas at Forest
Schmeichel at Man City
Keylor Navas at Forest
Schmeichel at Man City
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That period in the 2000s where Bolton had a load of players who should have been playing for Real Madrid (or actually did) and Real Madrid had a load of players that should have been playing for Big Sam's Bolton must have half a dozen examples of this.
Gravesen at Real Madrid.
He'd been at Everton for five years and was a solid if unspectacular DM in the prem.
Real Madrid were in their pure Galactico phase in which they just didn't bother signing another defensive midfielders or even CBs for a year or two. That summer Perez had a very reluctant rethink and signed Walter Samuel (who surprisingly flopped), Woodgate (who unsurprisingly flopped) and Pablo Garcia who was an steady enough DM in Italy and for Uruguay.
Gravesen at that point was coming up to 30. He had a few decent early games but eventually looked out of his depth and went to Celtic soon after and then faded out of the game.
At the time Barca were signing guys like Thiago Motta and Edmilson who did nice jobs in the defensive midfield position so their team had far better balance than Madrid.
He'd been at Everton for five years and was a solid if unspectacular DM in the prem.
Real Madrid were in their pure Galactico phase in which they just didn't bother signing another defensive midfielders or even CBs for a year or two. That summer Perez had a very reluctant rethink and signed Walter Samuel (who surprisingly flopped), Woodgate (who unsurprisingly flopped) and Pablo Garcia who was an steady enough DM in Italy and for Uruguay.
Gravesen at that point was coming up to 30. He had a few decent early games but eventually looked out of his depth and went to Celtic soon after and then faded out of the game.
At the time Barca were signing guys like Thiago Motta and Edmilson who did nice jobs in the defensive midfield position so their team had far better balance than Madrid.
Sol Campbell with his single appearance for Notts County before terminating his contract was a funny one
I was actually looking up Sol Campbell on Wikipedia yesterday; it said that after that he rejoined Arsenal for the first half of 2010 (much like how Jonny Evans has rejoined us, and which I do not remember reading about in my football nerd days of 2010-11/12 when I first became interested in football, I probably did but will have forgotten since) and then Newcastle in the 2010-11 season (which I faintly remember), before retiring from football in 2012 at the age of 37 after having been released by Newcastle a year earlier.
Yeah, Arsenal went through a weird phase of bringing back their old players in the early 2010s. Campbell, Henry and Lehmann were all brought back and did almost nothing between them.
Flamini was brought back after 5 years away as well, though he at least got some games.
Henry scoring on his second debut against Leeds was a nice moment though. Considering it was a short-term loan during the MLS off-season, I think he did alright.
Sadio Mané
Alvaro Odriozola
Breno
Bouna Sarr
Alvaro Odriozola
Breno
Bouna Sarr
Anelka was incredibly random for us at the time he was at City.
We had just got promoted, and mostly bought old players for very little money. Anelka was a bit of a superstar, admittedly struggling a bit in that moment in his career. But only 23-24 and the gulf in class was obvious. Probably played his most consistent football for us.
Robinho also obviously felt incredibly random when he got dropped into that group of players
We had just got promoted, and mostly bought old players for very little money. Anelka was a bit of a superstar, admittedly struggling a bit in that moment in his career. But only 23-24 and the gulf in class was obvious. Probably played his most consistent football for us.
Robinho also obviously felt incredibly random when he got dropped into that group of players
Thst whole QPR squad was a weird collection of players
Hierro at Bolton.
Salgado at Blackburn.
Faubert at Real.
Laurent Blanc rocking up to Utd at 35 was a bit of strange one.
Sam Hewson, former captain of the Manchester United reserve team.
Was Breno the guy who burnt his house down? Can remember that from years back.
Amusing you mentioned the last guy as whenever I saw his name on the bench I just assumed it was some young player Bayern had signed like Tel so a bit staggered to discover he's actually 32!
16 games in four years in Bundesliga so ultimate back up player.Bayern Munich had Landon Donovan and Ali Karimi on loan in the late 2000s. Both very talented playmaker/attackers in their own environment and for their NTs but neither could really settle or do much. Donovan had a decent spell at Everton aswell so he really should've achieved more but was too comfortable in the MLS.
Was basically due to Keegan as manager so he had the pull even if Man. City were lightyears away from what they had now. Schmeichel and Fowler also signed that season.
Another that's come to me. Liverpool signing Steven Caulker on loan!
He was pretty highly rated at Swansea but hit and miss at Spurs and then his career quickly declined due to gambling issues yet Liverpool still signed him when he was hardly getting in the QPR team.
They made some terrible transfers after selling Suarez.
He was pretty highly rated at Swansea but hit and miss at Spurs and then his career quickly declined due to gambling issues yet Liverpool still signed him when he was hardly getting in the QPR team.
They made some terrible transfers after selling Suarez.
One of the first Klopp-era signings.
Played in about three games and I'm fairly sure at least one of them was being brought on as a striker.
I didn’t remember the Lehmann return, but now that you said it, it rang a bit of a bell. Mad to think he was born in 1969.
I kind of remember Flamini’s return, and I very much do remember Henry’s return in February 2012.
William Prunier
Yeah Keegan had pull, but Anelka were still out of the norm. Schmeichel were 40 and Fowler while still being at a decent age was washed.
Anelka was in his prime physically but had just been rejected a bit harshly by Houllier at Liverpool. It was a stroke of luck and a type of fee that we didn't really spend in those days. Definitely a random signing
Yep, Breno burned his house down and went to jail for it. I still wonder at times what went wrong to have him in such a crisis.Was Breno the guy who burnt his house down? Can remember that from years back.
Amusing you mentioned the last guy as whenever I saw his name on the bench I just assumed it was some young player Bayern had signed like Tel so a bit staggered to discover he's actually 32!
Bayern Munich had Landon Donovan and Ali Karimi on loan in the late 2000s. Both very talented playmaker/attackers in their own environment and for their NTs but neither could really settle or do much. Donovan had a decent spell at Everton aswell so he really should've achieved more but was too comfortable in the MLS.
Bouna Sarr will always be a mystery, nobody will ever be able to rationally explain his being at Bayern. He didn't even have a new signing purple patch, he just immediately went to bench or not even in the matchday squad.
Wout Weghorst.
Paul Ince for the Scousers!
Peter Beardsley played for United. Still can't get over that one.
Van der Sar at Fulham
Weghorst at least had good spells in Bundesliga.
Igalho was a more random signing imo given the goals had dried up big time at Watford for him and then he went and played in the Middle East for a bit.
The reddevils community on reddit still has a raging hard-on for him, for some inexplicable reason
Laurie Cunningham
Peter Barnes
Alan Brazil
All played for utd!
Peter Barnes
Alan Brazil
All played for utd!
And he was there for four seasons... We should've signed him earlier