Manchester United’s Best African player of all time

Manchester United may not have flirted with players from the African content quite as much as some other Premier league outfits, but they have certainly had a decent share of footballers from this wonderful land mass over the years.

TFF takes a look at some of the best, and perhaps the very best, to wear the Manchester United shirt.

Eric Djemba-Djemba

The joke goes that Eric was so bad that they had to name him twice. He played for United for a couple of seasons and despite a really good start to his career at Manchester United he just wasn’t what the club needed or required post Roy Keane in the heart of their midfield.

The Cameroon international was a willing runner and a decent athlete but he simply didn’t appear to have the finesse to play at the top level for Manchester United.

Quinton Fortune

The South African came to Manchester United in 1999 and stayed for seven years as a utility player with a great motor.

Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to like using the player towards the end of games when legs with tiring and could always count on Fortune to put in a shift.

He could play in the midfield or on the left side of the defence and made 126 appearances for Manchester United scoring 11 goals in his years at the club.

Fortune made 46 appearances for South Africa between 1996 and 2005 and scored two goals in a career of some success.

Mame Biram Diouf

The Senegal striker who has 37 caps and 10 goals for his country played for Manchester United between 2009 and 2012. But he only made nine appearances for the club and scored a solitary goal before moving on. After two loan spells and a period at Hannover Diouf moved to Stoke City in 2014.

There he has enjoyed decent success playing 93 games and scoring 17 goals under Make Hughes. He is a hard-working and technically good player who has ultimately made a good career for himself in England.

But he never quite made the grade under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.

Manucho

This will go down as one of Fergie’s least successful signings. A tall and agile looking player, Manucho appeared to have lots of the physical qualities of a top striker but never quite came to the boil at Manchester United.

The Angolan left Manchester United in 2009 after after a year and only one appearance for the club. But he does still play in La Liga for Rayo Vellecano.

Wilfried Zaha

The 24-year-old winger came into Manchester United just as Sir Alex Ferguson was leaving the club. David Moyes didn’t seem to like him too much and he only made four appearances for the Red Devils before being eventually shipped out in a permanent move to his old club Crystal Palace.

There he has really come to realise his potential and is attracting the interest of many of the top clubs in England after some fine performances from out wide this season. The Ivory Coast international does look as if he could still make the top level of footballers and Manchester United may see him in future as one that got away.

Manchester United’s Best African Player Ever?

Eric Bailly

The 23-year-old Ivory Coast international has only been at Manchester United for a short time. But his potential is sensational. An out and out defender Bailly seems to delight in taking the ball off opponents.

Even though it is so early in his career at United TFF thinks that he will turn out to be the best African player Manchester United have ever signed by some distance. He has the pontential to become the captain of the team and a huge part of Manchester United’s success over the next 10 years. Let’s have a look at him in action.

Manchester United fans: is Bailly the best African footballer in the club’s history?