So, whatever happened to ... Ali Dia, the Premiership’s worst player

Ali Dia’s story should stand as a perfect example of the potential hazards of signing unseen players. His name brings a raging hot flush to the cheeks of a certain Graeme Souness.

In 1996, when he was managing Southampton, Souness picked up the phone to a man introducing himself as former world footballer of the year, George Weah. Souness was intrigued as "Weah" explained that his cousin, Ali Dia, capped 13 times by Senegal, was available and would be a valuable acquisition. He had, he explained, all the attributes to be a huge hit in English football.

Dia was invited to Southampton where, after an initial training session, he was offered a month’s contract. Among Saints supporters, keen anticipation quickly grew to frenzied excitement when Weah’s cousin was named in the squad to face Leeds United.

Then he appeared trackside, as a replacement for fans’ favourite Matthew Le Tissier. This seemed fitting: a club legend handing the baton to a player with such a pedigree.

Or not. Dia was dire. His 15 minutes of fame lasted precisely that: quarter of an hour was all it took to reveal the striker as a charlatan with all the ability of a schoolboy. The substitute was substituted, and has never been spotted near Southampton again.

Little has been heard of Dia since Souness learned that "George Weah" was actually one Sidiba Alassana, and that, funnily enough, all his claims had been false.

But this wasn’t the end of Dia’s career in English football. He headed north, landing in the Northern Premier League with Gateshead FC. There, he found his level, playing at Gateshead until February 1997, scoring two goals in 10 games. Not a bad record, though hardly Premiership material.

Dia’s next club was another non-league side, Spennymoor United, where he didn’t do much. Since then he has disappeared from the game, enrolling at the University of Northumbria from which he graduated with a degree in business studies eight months ago.