'He was so unprofessional' - Paul Scholes names Man Utd's worst-ever signing who 'couldn't kick a football'

Scholes discussed United's worst signings in an episode of The Overlap. Juan Sebastian Veron as often cited as one of the worst signings the club made, with the Argentine disappointing in his two seasons following his £28m - then a Premier League record fee - move to United from Lazio in 2001. But Scholes defended Veron and named a former goalkeeper as the worst signing the club made during his career.

Scholes said: "Veron was a great player, a talented player. Don't really know why it didn't work for him but what a footballer. I go back to the goalkeepers, when you had to try and replace Peter Schmeichel, which is always going to be difficult. We had a few. I was thinking [Massimo] Taibi, Mark Bosnich. I thought he was a good keeper at [Aston] Villa, Mark. He came to us, he was so unprofessional. Honestly, it was ridiculous. In shooting practice, you normally have like 15, 20 shots. After three shots, he's knackered, 'Oh no, get someone else in'.

Scholes also revealed that Bosnich lacked a basic ability for goal-kicks. He added: "I never realised, he couldn't kick a football. I've never seen anything like it. We played Everton away in first game of the season, and none of us picked up on it, he couldn't reach the halfway line. There was no wind, it was a perfect day. But when you look at his feet, size 14s, honestly he was just kicking the floor all the time, big flippers. Honestly, it was disappointing."

Bosnich was one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League at the time he signed for United from Aston Villa in 1999 as the successor to departing club legend Peter Schmeichel. But just one week into his time at the club there was a clear sign that he did not have the mentality to play for Sir Alex Ferguson's winning machine. He turned up one hour late to his own wedding after spending the previous night in a police cell following a punch-up with a photographer while out on his stag do with friends including United striker Dwight Yorke.

Ferguson, who also signed Bosnich in 1988 when the goalkeeper was just 16, was less than impressed with him when he met him for the second time. He described him as a "terrible professional" and "overweight". Nonetheless, Bosnich was Ferguson's No. 1 for the majority of the 1999-00 season, making 23 Premier League appearances for United and winning the title in his first season.

However, his contract was terminated 18 months after he arrived and he joined Chelsea. But his time in west London was even more disastrous. He failed a drugs test in September 2002, leading to him being kicked out of the club and banned from playing football for nine months. The Australian claimed his drink had been spiked with cocaine but he later confessed to becoming addicted to the drug.

He said: "I wasn't taking any drugs when I was found guilty by the FA. In 15 years of football, I never touched them. But everybody believed that I was into drugs... So one day I thought, 'F*** it, I'm going to do it.' I went to a club, bought a £50 wrap of coke, and brought it home to try. Basically, I cracked. I was angry and bitter and I succumbed to what everyone said I was, a coke fiend."

Bosnich said at one point he was taking six grams of cocaine a day and in one infamous incident was so inebriated he mistook his father for a burglar, attempting to shoot him with an air rifle.