Sir Alex Ferguson led Manchester United to extraordinary heights during his 26-year tenure at the Old Trafford side.
He could barely do a thing wrong between 1993 and 2003, winning eight Premier League titles, three FA Cups and a Champions League crown, while also enjoying success in the transfer market.
The start of the 2003/2004 campaign – although no one knew at the time – would prove to be the start of a barren period for the Red Devils, both in terms of trophies won and successful signings.
Indeed, that summer saw the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, David Bellion, Tim Howard, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson, with only Ronaldo going to be a success for the club and these were hardly players who could continue United’s dominance in England.
Kleberson was arguably the worst of the lot, especially with his established pedigree beforehand, winning the World Cup with Brazil in 2002, proving to be a key member of the side that triumphed in the far East.
He couldn’t replicate that form in Manchester however, rinsing the club in the process.
How much did Kleberson cost Manchester United?
The Brazilian midfielder cost the club £6.5m when he joined from Atletico Paranaense ahead of the 2003/04 season and having enjoyed success in his homeland, winning the Brazilian league title along with the aforementioned World Cup triumph, he arrived to much fanfare and Fergie was looking to plug the gap that Juan Sebastian Veron had left following his move to Chelsea.
He played just 16 times during his debut season, scoring twice and grabbing a further two assists, yet it was hardly the form of a player who was expected to bolster United’s starting XI.
Things didn’t exactly get much better in his second campaign, making even fewer appearances (14) and registering just three assists, and it was evident his future lay elsewhere.
Kleberson finally left United in August 2005, joining Besiktas, but his signing will surely go down as one of Fergie’s worst and Dave Phillips even dubbed him as “terrible” along with other players who failed to make an impact such as Bebe and Bellion.
Across his underwhelming 103 week spell at the Red Devils, Kleberson rinsed the club for a total of £11.5m (his transfer fee along with reported £5m in earnings over his two-year spell), which to United isn’t an earth-shattering sum of money, yet it may have been spent elsewhere or invested in a couple of youth prospects instead.
The Old Trafford faithful haven’t had to see too many flops over the years compared to some other clubs, yet Kleberson was arguably one of the worst players to pull on a United shirt in the previous 20 years.
