Ali Dia is a former Senegalese footballer who once played for English 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. "George 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 after 32 minutes but his performance was spectacularly below Premier League quality; many would say that he was the worst player to ever play for Southampton. He was himself substituted 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 features in lists of bad players or bad transfers.

External Link

• Football Humor
• Southampton vs. Leeds match report
• The Observer - The 10 worst foreign signings of all time