Ali Dia -Southampton
Ali Dia is a former Senegalese footballer who once played for English FA Premier League club Southampton, after falsely claiming to be a Senegalese international.
Having already had a failed trial at Rotherham United, Dia was signed by Southampton manager Graeme Souness in 1996, after Souness received a phone call purporting to be from Liberian international and former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah. "Weah" told Souness that Dia was his cousin, had played for Paris Saint-Germain and had played 13 times for his country. In actual fact, none of this was true, and the phone call was from Dia's agent. However, Souness was convinced, and signed Dia on a one-month contract.
Dia played just one game for Southampton, against Leeds United on November 21, 1996. He came on for Matthew Le Tissier who was substituted after 32 minutes but his performance was spectacularly below Premier League quality; many would say that Dia was the worst player to ever play for Southampton. He himself suffered a substitution after playing for 53 minutes. Leeds won the match 2-0.
Dia was released by Southampton two weeks into his contract. He briefly played for non-league Gateshead F.C., before fading into obscurity. He has achieved a notorious status amongst English football fans for his lack of ability, and is regularly featured in lists of bad players or bad transfers.
