Manchester United could be the pinnacle of a player’s profession – but Diego Forlan showed the Red Devils were only a stepping stone to achieving greatness.
The 45-year-old spent two-and-a-half-years at Old Trafford from January 2002 to August 2004 – winning the Premier League and FA Cup.
Remembered for his quickfire double away at Liverpool and his many celebrations where he stripped off his shirt, Forlan is believed of fondly by the United faithful.
Though the Uruguayan, who recently made his skilled tennis debut, wasn’t without his critics during his Old Trafford profession.
Brought in to offer competition for Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it took Forlan nine months to attain his first Premier League goal.
While fans often heralded his attitude and fighting spirit, Forlan was often singled out for his lack of goals, with the player scoring 17 times from his 98 matches in all competitions.
Speaking on talkSPORT Drive about his haters, he said: “Once I arrived at United, they were in that moment like Real Madrid with all the large players.
“It was difficult to get in the primary team, and I remember at the start I used to be on the bench getting ten, five minutes each game, which makes it difficult so that you can adapt.
“I used to be coming from a distinct league – the Argentinian league which is lower than the Premier League – and when you aren’t getting the rhythm of consecutive games to play, being on the bench and getting those ten minutes each game, it’s tougher.
“I keep in mind that everybody was joking and the England press is admittedly strong, and for six months I didn’t rating a goal.
“But for those who see all of the minutes that I play, and all of the goals that I scored, my average was the one which I had my whole profession, which was one goal every three games.”
Forlan, who played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo within the 2003/04 season, then revealed Van Nistelrooy’s request to Sir Alex Ferguson saw him drop to the bench, leading to his desire to seal a move away.
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He remarked: “I remember I used to be playing rhythm, I scored against Chelsea and Liverpool.
“I believe in 11 games I scored around seven or eight goals, I used to be playing alongside Ruud in that moment and the gaffer got here to me and said, ‘OK, Ruud desires to play on his own,’ and it was Ruud, he was a terrific player, a terrific goalscorer, so I went to the bench.
“I had to attend my moment after which I saw there was a moment where I desired to play more.
“I knew it was a terrific club with great players, I still got a contract [offer] of two-and-a-half-years more, but I desired to prove myself.”
While Forlan never managed to attain greater than six top-flight goals in a season in England, he went on to develop into one in every of the deadliest finishers across the globe following his switch to Villarreal twenty years ago.
In his first season in Spain, he finished because the LaLiga top scorer with 25 goals – pipping Barcelona star Samuel Eto’o and Real Madrid hero Ronaldo to the Pichichi Trophy.
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His goalscoring exploits saw him share the European Golden Shoe with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.
4 years later and Forlan would win the person honour outright, having banged in 32 league goals in Atletico Madrid’s colors.
Henry, then at Barca, could only muster 19 LaLiga strikes throughout the 2008/09 campaign, while Forlan also left Eto’o [30], David Villa [28] and Lionel Messi [23] in his dust.
Forlan was just as lethal on the international scene, together with his heroics on the 2010 World Cup taking Uruguay to the last 4, where he won the tournament’s Golden Ball and top goalscorer award with five goals.
And only one 12 months later, he sealed his place in Uruguay history by helping his side win their first Copa America in 16 years – while also playing his part in knocking out Messi’s Argentina within the quarter-finals.
Forlan was proof that there just isn’t only life after United for footballers, but that they’ll go on to develop into huge successes.
