How Diego Forlan became a Man Utd cult hero despite being a transfer flop

Forlan initially wanted to become a tennis player instead of emulating his father, Pablo, who played at the 1966 and 1974 World Cups for Uruguay, but shifted focus to football at the age of 12. That decision stemmed from his admiration for Argentine great Diego Maradona, who donated his own money to help the family pay for medical bills after Forlan's sister, Alejandro, was involved in a horrific car accident that killed her boyfriend and left her paralysed.

Driven by a desire to provide financial support himself, Forlan went on to spend time in the academies at two of Uruguay's top clubs, Penarol and Danubio, and in 1995, he travelled to France for a seven-month trial with Nancy, but was ultimately not offered a full-time contract. Undeterred, a 16-year-old Forlan went back to South America, and with the help of family contact and manager Jose Omar Pastoriza, he entered the youth system at Independiente, one of Argentina's 'Big Five' clubs.

Forlan made his first-team debut as an 18-year-old in 1998, and went on to score an impressive 40 goals in 91 games for Independiente, establishing himself among the finest young, two-footed forwards on the continent. He became the subject of renewed interest from Europe, and, in January 2002, Premier League outfit Middlesbrough agreed a £6.9 million deal for the Uruguyan starlet.

United, however, gazumped 'Boro upon Forlan's arrival in England, offering him the same fee in one lump payment and a significantly higher salary package. Crucially, Ferguson also personally intervened to turn Forlan's head.

"Middlesbrough approached my agent, they wanted to see me before United. Sir Alex Ferguson found out about this. One day I got a phone call while I was in the bathroom. My roommate was sleeping on the bed so I was quiet," Forlan said in his column for The National in 2015.

"I could understand English from a very early age, but I could barely understand the man on the phone. He was speaking really fast with a very strong accent. I’d been taught English by people who spoke with very clear accents. I made a great effort to understand and worked out that he wanted me to play for him. 'We want you,' he said. ‘It’s not just interest, we want you. You can be a great player for us. Wait for us. You will play for Manchester United'."

Signing another No.9 was a necessity for United after the departures of Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole, and Forlan's arrival generated a lot of excitement. He made his bow the following week, coming on in the final 15 minutes of a 4-0 Premier League rout of Bolton Wanderers, and showed immediate promise with his clever movement, work rate and pace, earning the seal of approval from Van Nistlerooy.

"With Diego, we have got a very young and talented player," Van Nistelrooy said. "He only came on for the last 15 minutes, but you could see that he has a lot of potential. He’s very, very quick, has two great feet and I think at 22 years of age, he has a great future."

Van Nistelrooy rounded off the scoring at the Reebok Stadium that day after a hat-trick from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Despite the Netherlands international's kind words, Forlan would play third fiddle behind him and Solskjaer throughout his time at United.

Forlan didn't get his first start until early March, as he deputised for the injured Solskjaer in a clash with Tottenham at Old Trafford. The Red Devils strolled to another 4-0 win, and Forlan was a constant threat with his runs in behind, but missed several glaring opportunities while showing an alarming lack of composure in front of goal.

He ended the 2001-02 campaign with 18 appearances, but didn't find the back of the net once. The season was a complete failure for Ferguson's side, too, as they slumped to a third-placed Premier League finish, went out early in both the FA Cup and League Cup, and lost to an unfancied Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League semi-finals.

Still, Forlan's tireless work off the ball made him popular with the United faithful, and he was called up to Uruguay's squad for the 2002 World Cup. They suffered a humiliating group-stage exit in South Korea/Japan, but Forlan restored some lost confidence when scoring one of the goals of the tournament against Senegal, lashing a brilliant volley into the far corner from 20 yards out.

There was no immediate surge after Forlan returned to Manchester, though, as he continued to play a substitute role once the 2002-03 campaign got underway. He stepped off the bench late in all of United's first six Premier League games and in both legs of their Champions League qualifying victory against Zalaegerszeg, and, after reaching 26 appearances with no goals, he was dubbed "Forlorn" by the British media.

The all-important breakthrough finally came in Forlan's 27th outing for United, a home encounter against Maccabi Haifa on the opening matchday in the Champions League. The 23-year-old came on just before the hour mark with the Red Devils leading 4-1, and as always, he was full of industry in the final third, but the golden touch eluded him as he blazed one glaring chance way over the bar after being played in by Van Nistelrooy.

It looked like being yet another frustrating night for Forlan, until David Beckham won a penalty in the 88th minute. The United winger, who captained the team that night, initially picked up the ball to take it, but Forlan pleaded with him to step aside, which the Englishman did graciously, recognising his desperation.

"Please. please. Anyone with an ounce of humanity says please on his behalf," ITV commentator Peter Drury said as Forlan waited for the referee's whistle and the near-capacity crowd at Old Trafford held it's collective breath. Despite oozing anxiety in his body language, Forlan wrong-footed the goalkeeper and converted a crisp side-footed shot that sealed a 5-2 victory.

Beckham and Co subsequently mobbed Forlan, and everyone in the home dugout broke into wide smiles of relief. "If I'd taken it and scored, I'd have been hated by 67,000 people," Beckham said after the game. "He's been working so hard in training and in matches, and he really deserved that."

Ferguson echoed the skipper's sentiments: "Diego's movement is first-class and he deserves his goal. Even in the half-hour he was on, he created half a dozen chances. If you put that amount of effort in you should get something. Hopefully he will settle down now and get lots more. That will kick-start him I'm sure of that, he did some fantastic work."

Forlan's reaction was subdued, though. This was a simply a starting point for the Uruguay international after a difficult settling in-period, as he later admitted: "I had to adjust myself to the Premiership and a different culture. Furthermore, sometimes I don't play too much time and in those occasions it's more important to control the ball rather than scoring more goals. The pressure is a personal one, but I'm confident the goals will come. It would have been better to score that goal after a move but it still counts."

He would prove himself and Ferguson right. Forlan failed to get on the scoresheet in United's next seven matches across all competitions, but made only his second Premier League start of the season on October 26, and rescued a vital point for his team against Aston Villa.

Villa had a one-goal lead heading into the final 13 minutes at Old Trafford and there didn't look to be much danger when Mikael Silvestre picked the ball up on the far side of the box with a sea of defenders in front of him. However, the Frenchman managed to dig out a cross for an inexplicably unmarked Forlan, who brilliantly diverted a header into the top corner past helpless Villa 'keeper Peter Enckelman, ending his nine-month wait for a first Premier League goal.

Forlan was far more exuberant this time, whipping his shirt off in what would become a trademark celebration. Seemingly unsure where to direct his energy, he also ran towards the Villa fans in the away end instead of to the home support - an understandable mistake after 23 Premier League matches without an open-play goal.

United hosted Southampton the following week, and despite Ferguson relegating Forlan back to the bench, he would again have the final say on proceedings. With just five minutes to play and the scoreline locked at 1-1, Juan Sebastian Veron fed Forlan some 25 yards from goal, and he took two touches to set himself before unleashing an unstoppable drive that flew past Southampton No.1 Annti Niemi in the blink of an eye.

It was a sublime moment that prompted an adrenaline-charged Forlan to expose his bare chest again, but a ridiculous one followed. Seemingly confounded by Nike's dual-layer kits for United that season, he struggled to get his shirt back on, and when the game restarted, he went in full throttle to win the ball back while holding it in his hands.

"I was trying to get it back on quickly, but sometimes when you are in a hurry, things tend to get worse," Forlan said when asked to comment on the incident. "I don't know if I will do it again. We'll have to see when it happens." As an emotional player who thrived on instinct, it wouldn't be long before he got carried away again.

Forlan then played a key role as a starter for United in a thrilling 5-3 win over Newcastle, laying on two assists for Van Nistelrooy, and retained his place in Ferguson's lineup for a trip to Liverpool eight days later. It was that fateful Saturday afternoon at Anfield that ultimately defined his legacy with the Red Devils.

The first 60-odd minutes of the game were scrappy, and it felt like only a piece of individual magic or a big error would break the deadlock. It turned out to the be latter.

Jamie Carragher headed a loose ball back to Jerzy Dudek for what should have been a simple catch, but somehow, the Liverpool 'keeper let it slip under his legs, and Forlan reacted sharply to pass it into the empty net. The United striker went to remove his shirt after wheeling away in euphoria, only to pull it back down in an amusing last-second act of restraint.

While that goal was more about luck than anything else, Forlan's second was an emphatic piece of technical brilliance. Barely three minutes later, Ryan Giggs rode two tackles and poked the ball through to Forlan on the edge of the penalty area, and he proceeded to rifle a fearsome strike in at Dudek's near post. Yes, Dudek should have done better, but Forlan's execution was flawless.

Sami Hyypia pulled one back for Liverpool, but United held on for a famous victory, with Fabian Barthez pulling off an astounding save to keep out Dietmar Hamann late on. It was Forlan who was the true saviour, though.

"You know, the thing I remember is, of course, the goals – every time I see them on TV – but it was after the game when Gary [Neville] came to me and said you don’t know what you did. You will be remembered for years," Forlan said when recalling the game on United's media channel in 2022.

Sure enough, the United fandom created a special chant for Forlan to the tune of Dean Martin's song Volare. The lyrics "Diego, whoooah, Diego, whoooah, He came from Uruguay, and made the Scousers cry" have been a terrace staple ever since, even sung during a match against Sunderland in April 2017, which left then-Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho baffled.

Forlan added: "I knew it was something important but, you know, I didn’t know in that moment, until now, after 20 years, they would still be singing my name. It's unbelievable." He also said in an interview withGQ in 2019: "I get goosebumps every time I hear it. I’m not Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or another United legend, nor am I the only player to have scored at Anfield, so it feels a privilege to be remembered. I was getting so few minutes in the team that I didn’t even feel like I was a proper footballer until that game."

Forlan delivered three more important goals that December. The first came in the form of an assured finish in a 2-0 win over Burnley in the fourth round of the League Cup, and the second came in United's quarter-final tie against Chelsea, as he nutmegged Carlo Cudicini to score the only goal of the game.

The Red Devils ended the month on a high by beating Birmingham City 2-0 at Old Trafford, with Forlan smashing home their opener after meeting a nod back across the area from Beckham on the half volley. Forlan only started one more Premier League game that season, but gave supporters another memory to cherish when Chelsea rocked up in Manchester for a pivotal fixture in the title race on January 18.

Arsenal had moved five points clear of United at the summit after beating West Ham earlier in the day, and Chelsea were sat three further back in third. The Blues controlled the first half and appeared on course to leapfrog United in the table when Eidur Gudjohnsen put them ahead in the 30th minute, but a mistake from Cudicini before the interval changed the outlook. After losing his footing, the Chelsea 'keeper played a poor pass out to Beckham, who crossed in for Scholes to make it 1-1.

United stepped their game up in the second half, but so did Cudicini, with Van Nistelrooy denied what looked like a certain goal when the Italian somehow pushed his glancing header past the post. Chelsea held firm right until the third minute of injury time, when Forlan took centre stage.

On as a substitute for Van Nistlerooy, Forlan ghosted in between Chelsea's centre-backs to get on the end of a delicious through-ball from Veron, and with a perfectly-measured swing of his left boot, won all three points for Ferguson's side. This time, Forlan didn't hesitate for a second when removing his jersey and sprinting off to deafening roar of the home faithful.

"That's why we always put him on for the last 20 minutes. He's become a really important player this year with important goals," the United manager later told reporters. The Premier League trophy came back to Old Trafford four months later, and Forlan was right in the thick of the jubilant scenes. His record of six goals and two assists in 25 appearances was still modest, but considering he started just seven of those games, Forlan had done fantastically well to make such a telling contribution.

It was never Forlan's destiny to be a long-term superstar at United, though. He produced one of the misses of the century in a 2003-04 pre-season friendly against Juventus, somehow shooting into the side netting from inside the six-yard box with the goal at his mercy, which set the tone for his disappointing final year at the club.

Ferguson pivoted towards a lone-striker system that saw Van Nistelrooy cast an even larger shadow over Forlan. There were still some highs that served as reminders of his unique talent, including a beautiful volleyed effort in a 3-0 victory against Rangers in the Champions League, the winner at Panathinaikos to send United through to the knockout phase, and a brilliant double off the bench as United thrashed Villa 4-0 in the Premier League. Forlan also added an FA Cup winner's medal to his CV, grabbing a goal en route during United's 3-0 fourth-round win over Northampton.

But the lows were crippling. Forlan squandered far more chances than he buried - notably missing a penalty in that Northampton tie - and didn't stamp his mark on the rare occasions Ferguson put him in from the start. He was hauled off in the 57th minute after an especially sluggish display against Leicester in April and attempted to march straight down the tunnel in a rare show of anger.

His cause wasn't helped by Louis Saha's arrival at Old Trafford in January 2024, or Wayne Rooney's capture from Everton that summer. Forlan played 17 minutes in United's 2024-25 season opener at Chelsea, but ignored a request from Ferguson to change his studs, and faced the manager's wrath after slipping when through on goal in the 1-0 defeat.

"Ferguson wanted me to play with long studs, the interchangeable ones that suit wet pitches, but I feel more comfortable in short ones," Forlan has revealed. "I agreed to change but I didn't and wasted a chance. Afterwards, I rushed to the dressing room to change boots but Ferguson caught me. He grabbed the boots and threw them. That was my last game for United."

Forlan left the Theatre of Dreams a few days later as a transfer flop, joining Villarreal in a cut-price £2m deal. However, there was no lasting animosity with Ferguson, who offered a thoughtful summary of Forlan's time at the club in his autobiography, admitting Van Nistelrooy's "singularity" worked against the Uruguay ace.

"Ruud wanted to be the No 1 finisher, that was his nature. Diego Forlan didn’t register on his radar at all, so when you put the two of them out there together, there was zero chemistry. Diego was better with a partner," said Ferguson. "But he scored some priceless goals. He was a good player and a terrific pro."

At Villarreal, Forlan blossomed because he was promoted to leading man. That position just wasn't available to him at United, and he wasn't built to be a super-sub like Solskjaer was for much of his career. Ferguson's assessment was proven accurate by the deadly partnership he forged with Sergio Aguero at Atletico, too, as well as his telepathic understanding with Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani at international level.

United fans didn't see the very best of Forlan, but still fell in love with his fighting spirit. "I remember when Diego Forlan came in, and it wasn't quite happening for him. If a player tried - and Diego did - we'd drag him with us; we'd try and help him," former United captain Roy Keane said in 2023, per the Daily Mirror.

Yes, he made the Scousers cry, but Forlan's incredible determination cemented his status as an Old Trafford favourite. He always gave everything for the badge, and that kind of character is exactly what the club has been missing in the post-Ferguson era. Romance in football should be measured in devotion, not numbers, and Forlan's was unmatched.