West Ham United have had their fair share of awful strikers, but none as bad as Southampton’s Ali Dia, George Weah’s cousin. However, according to a report from FourFourTwo, the Senegalese forward could have joined West Ham instead of the Saints.
The Ali Dia story is one of the funniest stories in Premier League history. Southampton brought the striker to the club as they were told about a striker who was George Weah’s cousin that was looking for a club. Southampton took him on trial as they struggled in the league and were desperate for goals.
Then manager Graeme Souness decided that he was “hopeless” after just one day, however, he kept him around due to having a lack of players in training because they had injuries. During Dia’s short spell at the club, the injuries got even worse, so he somehow made the squad for their match against Leeds.
Matt Le Tissier was the Saints’ only fit forward, and he got injured after just 20 minutes, meaning Dia had to come on. Southampton lost 2-0 to Leeds on the day, and Dia – who was hauled off in the second half – would not make another appearance again for the club. “I had the same impression as Graeme,” Le Tissier recalled. “I actually thought he’d won a competition to come and train with us.
This story could have been completely different as West Ham United were also contacted about signing Dia. In an interview with FourFourTwo, former West Ham manager Harry Redknapp confirmed he too was contacted by George Weah, recommending Dia as his cousin. However, he dismissed it as a “wind up.”
Redknapp said: “He rang me at the training ground – it was George Weah, “He rang up and said, ‘My cousin, good player, I’ve seen your team, you’re a good team but you need a goalscorer’. I was saying, ‘Oh yeah, OK George, lovely’. I thought it was a wind-up.
“I was going, ‘Yeah alright, George, how are you doing at Milan now?’ I thought it was someone having a laugh. Then suddenly he started telling me how Milan were going to play that year and the players he was playing with. I thought, ‘Oh my God, it is him!’ I was shocked.
“But, luckily, I didn’t take his cousin. He ended up going to Southampton, didn’t he, coming on after 20 minutes, then getting dragged off after 20 minutes…”
A very lucky escape for West Ham, maybe strikers like Simone Zaza and Marco Boogers weren’t so bad after all.
