Ali Dia may not be a name that most of you remember, but without a doubt he is the main character of the biggest scam the Premier League has ever known. In 1996 Southampton coach Graeme Souness received a phone call from someone pretending to be the former Ballon D´or, George Weah. The supposed African Legend told Souness that his cousin Ali Dia who had played for Paris Saint German, and had also played for Senegal national team was seeking for a club to play, and that he should give him a chance at the Saints. As Southampton wasn’t playing really good football at that time, Souness was convinced of giving Dia a one month contract with the team.

Ali Dia’s first day at training was horrible and Southampton players didn’t expect him to ever play for the club, but due to the numerous injuries at the club the Senegalese went to the bench in a Premier League game against Leeds, Dia was subbed in the 36 minute to replace Saints legend Matt Le Tissier and since he touched the pitch everybody knew that he wasn’t a professional footballer, as Le Tissier said “He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice; it was very embarrassing to watch."

Ali Dia was released by the club with fourteen days in the contract, and went to play in a lower league side. Later on he enrolled at Northumbria University to study business and graduated in 2001

Check how bad he was in this video.