Uruguyan striker Diego Forlan never achieved the form at Manchester United predicted for him. He took 27 games to score his first goal for the club. But Forlan says one incident in particular enraged manager Alex Ferguson enough to end his time with the club.
"Ferguson wanted me to play with high studs, the interchangeable ones that suit wet fields," Forlan told the official Champions League magazine. "But I feel more comfortable in low ones. I agreed to change cleats, but I didn't. Against Chelsea, I slipped in front of goal and wasted a chance. Afterwards, I rushed to the locker room to change shoes. Ferguson caught me. He grabbed the boots and threw them. That was my last game for United."
Forlan's time with United came to an abrupt end as United shipped the striker to Villarreal, where he regained his old goalscoring form. Despite his goal drought for United, fans of the club still remember Forlan fondly, most specifically for a double strike at Liverpool during their 2002-03 title-winning campaign as well as vital goals against Chelsea and Southampton in the same season.