Dong Fangzhou's eventual move to Manchester United in 2006 is one of the strangest and most farcical transfers of the Premier League era, and given all the hassle it took to bring him to Old Trafford, it was scarcely worth the effort. United had initially signed Dong - the club's first-ever East Asian player - in 2004, but due to work permit issues, the Chinese international was ineligible to play for the Red Devils and was loaned to Belgian side Royal Antwerp, where employment laws were less strict. Dong stayed at Antwerp for four full seasons before he finally qualified for a European passport and moved to United in 2006. After all the hassle, was it worth it? No. Dong made one single appearance at United and spent most of his time playing for the reserves until his contract was mutually terminated in 2008. The whole transfer had been a monumental waste of time and Dong moved back to first club Dalian Shide.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
