10 Players Who Didn't Fulfil Their Potential At Man Utd

3. Diego Forlan

The curious case of Diego Forlan's Old Trafford career will likely never be answered. There's several factors that can contribute to why the majority of his United career was a nightmare; one being that he was Ruud van Nistelrooy's understudy, but when he got his chance on the pitch he started out as more of a charity case than cast iron matchwinner. Perhaps his confidence was shot, and you can only imagine how the Uruguayan must have felt after going through his first 26 games in red without bagging a goal. Credit to him though, he stepped up and finally netted his first from the penalty spot in Europe, before a goal against Aston Villa in the Premier League really got the ball rolling. He ended up with 17 goals for United - and some were really, very good - but the Uruguayan made his way to Villarreal in the summer of 2004 as Wayne Rooney arrived. You could say that one worked out quite well. But Forlan went on and had great moments of his own, he flourished in Spain with both Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, and developed into the player Alex Ferguson initially thought he could be. He didn't fulfil his promise in United red, but he soon found success elswhere. However, Forlan is to blame for that ridiculous rule where taking off your shirt to celebrate a goal leads to a booking. Good riddance.