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Graeme Souness has explained how he was forced to play the infamous Ali Dia for Southampton despite knowing that he was “desperate”.
In a story that has passed into soccer folklore, Dia won a trial with the Saints in 1996.
The striker was offered the opportunity after claiming to be a relative of AC Milan’s world player of the year, George Weah, which was completely untrue.
Souness was in charge of The Dell, and he often remembers the curious case of Dia, whom he took off the bench in a Premier League clash with Leeds instead of an injured Matt Le Tissier after 32 minutes.
“It is a great story, and it is a fun story. It is not exactly what you read or hear,” Souness reminded Sky Sports .
(Image: Daily Echo / Solent News)
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“Someone got a call at the football club … George Weah’s cousin or nephew was in England and looking to join a club. I wanted a trial. Mate [Le Tissier] At that point we will know that we had such a small squad, and we had investigators at all times.
“Then this guy shows up, and anyone who’s been involved in football, you know in the first five minutes of a game, even if it’s a small five per side, if the kid can play or not.”
“So within the first five minutes on a Monday morning, we said it wasn’t for us. I was desperate.”
“But we didn’t have enough players to have an eight per side. So we held it for a week, and as the week progressed, we had more and more players who were injured.”
“We were playing Leeds United on Saturday, and Matt was our only striker. It’s all Matt’s fault because it only lasts about 20 minutes! He was looking at the bench thinking, ‘What could we do?'”
Dia signed a one-month contract with Southampton, but was released two weeks later.
His performance against Leeds was previously compared by Le Tissier to “Bambi on ice”, and Dia was even substituted off the field at the end of the match.
“I actually thought he had won a competition to come and train with us,” said Le Tissier on Wednesday.
“So it was all my fault. I was the player replaced by possibly the worst player to have ever played in the Premier League.”
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