Manchester United's 10 Worst Premier League Signings

#2 Massimo Taibi

Massimo Taibi of Manchester United

It was always going to prove difficult to replace the iconic Peter Schmeichel, but replacing the Great Dane proved one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s toughest tasks during his legendary tenure at Manchester United. But boy, did Fergie soon find out that Italian stopper Massimo Taibi wasn’t up to the job.

After Schmeichel’s 1999 departure, Fergie’s first move was to bring in former United trainee Mark Bosnich. Arriving from Aston Villa on a free transfer, hopes were high that the Australian could take his impressive Villa performances and up his game to a whole new level at Old Trafford. With injury striking both Bosnich and back-up ‘keeper Raimond van der Gouw, Fergie had to do something and do something quick – and thus Venezzia must have been laughing their socks off when United offered them £4.5 million for Taibi.

To be fair, Taibi made a Man of the Match debut against longtime rivals Liverpool, but that was as good as it got for the Italian. When you soon become nicknamed the Blind Venetian, you know something must’ve gone wrong, and wrong it did indeed go.

Famously, a 3-3 draw against Southampton saw Taibi put in one of the worst performances in Premier League history; all capped off by letting a tame Matt Le Tissier effort squirm under his body. After a 5-0 hammering from Chelsea, enough was enough and Taibi’s United career was brought to a screaming halt after just four appearances.

Barely four months after his arrival, the goalkeeper was sent out on loan to Reggina before a permanent transfer followed that summer – and with that, one of the briefest, yet most brutal Old Trafford careers was done and dusted.