Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has branded former team-mate Mark Bosnich as the club’s worst-ever signing.
Fresh from the club’s treble-winning campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson was searching for a replacement for the departing Peter Schmeichel. Bosnich was snapped up by Ferguson for the second time in his career in 1999, a decade after arriving from Australia as a youngster before encountering work visa issues.
Bosnich had established himself as one of the Premier League’s top shot-stoppers during a seven-year stint at Aston Villa and was signed as a free agent. It marked the start of an infamous period in United’s history, with Ferguson failing to settle on an established No. 1 he could properly rely upon until Edwin van der Sar in 2005.
In Bosnich’s debut season, he made 23 league matches – splitting game time between Massimo Taibi and Raimond van der Gouw – as United cantered to the league title. However, when asked about the club’s worst-ever transfer dealings, Bosnich’s 18-month spell during a dominating period for the club stuck out to Scholes.
“I go back to the goalkeepers, when you had to try and replace Peter Schmeichel, which is always going to be difficult,” Scholes said on The Overlap. “We had a few. I was thinking [Massimo] Taibi, Mark Bosnich.
“I thought he was a good keeper at Villa, Mark Bosnich. 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’.
“I never realised, he couldn’t kick a football. I’ve never seen anything like it. We played Everton away, 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! Disappointing.”
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