A «phone call» from the 1996 World Player of the Year George Weah got Southampton excited about the prospect of his «cousin» Ali Dia, who was available for a trial. By coincidence manager Graeme Souness had a massive injury crisis and he put Dia on as a substitute. After a few minutes of completely inept play the substitute was substituted and it became clear that it hadn’t been Weah on the phone, and Dia was not Weah’s cousin. Dia could not even hold down a place at nonleague Gateshead to where he was later shipped and then released completely.
