6 South American stars who failed at Manchester United

South Americans are known for their flamboyant attacking football. Known to play with skill and swagger, one would think that they would be a perfect match for a club with a predominantly attacking ethos like Manchester United.

While many South Americans like Rafael, Antonio Valencia, and Carlos Tevez have forged successful careers at United, many of them have failed to perform at the Manchester club due to various reasons, be it conflicts in their style of play, issues settling down or lack of discipline.

While United have a number of South Americans on their books, a number of famous, big ticket South American signings have failed at the club.

Kleberson

Kleberson in action for the Red Devils

Manchester United bought Kleberson in the summer of 2003 for £6.5million after top transfer target Ronaldinho signed for Barcelona. Kleberson had been signed on the back of impressive performances in the 2002 World Cup so much that Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari described him as the driving force behind their success in the World Cup.

Manchester United had high expectations from Kleberson. His highly regarded talent was hailed by Sir Alex Ferguson as the reason they sold Seba Veron. Bought as a replacement for the Argentine midfielder, Kleberson only scored 2 goals in 20 appearances for the Red Devils and could not influence matches as expected from a World Cup winner.

Manchester United sold him to Turkish side Besiktas for only 2.5 million pounds after just one season. He now plies his trade for Fort. Lauderdale in the North American Football League.