JOE’s Forgotten Footballers: Eric Djemba-Djemba

So good they named him twice was the ironic chant. Eric Djemba-Djemba was part of an unsuccessful time at United, and best consigned to history.

By Declan Whooley

The only thing more mystifying than Eric Djemba-Djemba’s ability was the fact Aston Villa spent £1.5 million on a player who was not only gloriously under-whelming at Old Trafford, he featured in very few games. Then again, David O’ Leary was at the helm, so spending over the odds was hardly an alien concept.

Like countless others, he was bought on potential rather than performances. The Cameroonian had only played two seasons for Nantes when Alex Ferguson and his scouts saw enough in the tough-tackling midfielder to part with £3.5 million to bring him to Old Trafford.

That summer was a busy one at Manchester United. After winning the title the previous season, their last for four years, Fergie was doing more wheeling and dealing than in Harry Redknapp’s wildest dreams.

David Beckham, Juan Veron and Fabien Barthez were among those to leave, while a whole host of players arrived. Cristiano Ronaldo, Louis Saha, Tim Howard and Gabby Heinze proved astute buys on the whole, while Kleberson, Dong Fangzhou and David Bellion won’t be having statues erected anytime soon.

Combative would be one of the more positive words to descibe his style

With Roy Keane not getting any younger, Djemba-Djemba was seen as a possible solution and an over zealous tackle of Sol Campbell in the Charity Shield led many to believe that the Irishman could be replaced by the young African. That optimism faded quickly.

To be fair, before getting into the obvious point that he offered very little during his time on the pitch, he did suffer a lot of injuries during his 18 months. Not that that should excuse some wholly anonymous performances in the engine room.

In his first campaign he played 22 games, while also representing his country at the Africa Cup of Nations. His high points are most likely reaching that figure and his two goals, a Champions League strike in the rout of Panathinaikos and this effort against Leeds United, an extra-time winner in the League Cup. Not sure it's as spectacular as the commentary team make out, but the celebration is novel.

By the following January he was nothing more than a distant memory at United, with his final appearance coming in the unglamorous fixture of an away trip to Exeter in the FA Cup. In total he made 40 appearances, 12 of those coming on as a substitute. How Deadly Doug commissioned O’Leary to part with £1.35 million to bring him to the Midlands is anyone’s guess, but that move didn’t bring an up-turn in fortunes either.

Where have we seen that pose before?

In two an a half years at Villa Park he appeared just 11 times and a loan move to Burnley did not work out as hoped. He later spent four years in Denmark with Odense, and actually played against Villa in the Intertoto Cup in his first season after leaving England.

Last summer he moved to Hapoel Tel Aviv and featured in their Europa League campaign, picking up two yellow cards and a red in his four games.

The name Djemba-Djemba will often bring a smile to football supporters' faces and he is proof that the price for potential can be a very steep one indeed.