Diego Forlan spent over two years at Manchester United and became a cult hero after struggling to reach the standards required consistently.
Sir Alex Ferguson brought Diego Forlan to Manchester United from Independiente in January 2002, but the Uruguay international never established himself as a regular starter ahead of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Forlan made 98 appearances for United, scoring 17 goals and registering eight assists. It took him nine months and 27 appearances to score his first goal for the club, which came from the penalty spot against Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League.
There is no disputing Forlan’s best memory at United. He cemented his place in United history by scoring a late brace against rivals Liverpool at Anfield, securing a 2-1 victory.
The Uruguayan won the Premier League and the FA Cup during his time at United.
Forlan would eventually leave United for Villarreal before enjoying a prolific spell in Spain and going on to join Atletico Madrid, where he shone.
Rio Ferdinand attending F1
Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP via Getty Images
Rio Ferdinand gives verdict on Diego Forlan’s struggles at Man Utd
Rio Ferdinand signed for United from Leeds in a then-British record £30 million fee a few months after Forlan arrived at Old Trafford.
Speaking on Rio Presents, Ferdinand gave his insight on Forlan as a player, who would do remarkable things in training, but it wouldn’t matter because nobody was starting ahead of Van Nistelrooy.
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This had an impact on Forlan’s confidence, and he would inevitably move on to play regular football elsewhere.
“He was someone who was low confidence. He worked really hard in training,” Ferdinand said.
“It’s almost like his Kryptonite was Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was like the golden child at the time at the club, and he was always going to be second backup dancer to him.
“We could see things in training, it makes you go, ‘Oh my god, wow. He’s got a chance. He’s a top player’.
“There are things he had in his armoury. He was a cold finisher, left and right foot. He went on to win the European golden boot, like a ridiculous footballer in terms of movement.
“It reminds me a bit like Harry Kane in that he done rep after rep after rep. So when he got into position to score, everything looked like it was cultured. Everything looked like it was like precision. And there was a method to it.
“It was just like, I’ve done this so many times. You could see that practice coming out in the way he finished.
“I think it was Ruud… I think having someone like Ruud there, he knows he’s never starting, no matter what he does.
“He can come in and score a hat trick at Anfield and then go to the Etihad and score another hat trick next week. And if Ruud said he was fit, Ruud would play. We talk about players building confidence. It weren’t really there for him to do that.
“But again, then I would suggest then your mentality has got to be, ‘how can I support Ruud and be part of a squad? And I think like he needed to probably draw inspiration more.
“Don’t look at Ruud. Look at someone like Ole and go, where can I fit myself in this squad and draw confidence from? And someone like Ole probably would have been a better kind of reference point for him.”
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What is Diego Forlan doing now?
After retiring from football in 2019, Forlan became a professional tennis player.
Forlan competes in the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Masters tournaments.
All of Forlan’s tennis matches have been played on clay, with a 53% win rate.
The 46-year-old is now trying to make a name for himself in the sport of tennis, after doing so as a footballer in South America and Europe.