Southampton made the oddest signing in Premier League history in 1996, Matt Le Tissier thought ‘he’d won a competition’

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Southampton return to the Championship for the 2025/26 campaign after a very difficult season last time out.

The Saints finished on just 12 points in 2024/25, as they narrowly avoided taking Derby County’s Premier League points record off them.

However, the Hampshire outfit did record the most losses in a single Premier League campaign (30), and now Will Still has plenty of work to do to ensure that his side are prepared for life back in the second tier.

While last season was nothing short of a disaster, it perhaps did not compare to one moment that supporters had to suffer back in 1996, and Matt Le Tissier struggled to believe what he saw.

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Matt Le Tissier could not believe Ali Dia’s performance for Southampton in 1996

The 1996/97 campaign was a difficult one for Southampton, and Graeme Souness was under significant pressure as injuries started to mount up, leading to the arrival of Ali Dia.

An unknown and unproven striker, the Saints’ recruitment team had received a call saying that a relative of George Weah was in the country and was looking for a club. Dia went on a trial with the Premier League side but he failed to impress.

However, due to the extent of Southampton’s injury issues, he was named on the bench against Leeds United in November 1996. But Matt Le Tissier was forced off the pitch injured, and on came their new signing. He lasted just 53 minutes, both on the field and as a Saints player with Le Tissier stating just how poor he was in an interview in 2020.

He said (via: Sky Sports): “I actually thought he’d won a competition to come and train with us. When he turned up on the Saturday and sat in the changing room, I thought, ‘wow, that’s a pretty good competition, he’s got to hear the team talk as well!’

“I pulled a thigh muscle taking penalties on the Friday and felt a tweak on the last one. I thought I’d be alright, I could get away with it as I wouldn’t be sprinting anyway… but I over-extended it as I whipped a ball in during the first 20 minutes, so I had to come off.

“So it was all my fault. I was the player substituted for possibly the worst player to ever play in the Premier League.”

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Unsurprisingly, Ali Dia’s footballing career came to an end soon after

Ali Dia had bounced around the lower divisions in France and other clubs on the European continent before joining Southampton, but he had spent some time in England ahead of the fateful move.

He featured for Blyth Spartans in one league game, and then jumped all the way to the Premier League.

After unsurprisingly leaving The Dell and Hampshire behind, the now 59-year-old went back to the north-east. He spent time with Gateshead, scoring a couple of times for the Heed before he eventually ended his career at Spennymoor United.

Ali Dia’s playing days were perhaps both remarkable and unremarkable a footballer has ever had, and Souness will never live down his signing.