In early July, George Weah’s son Timothy is expected to sign his first professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain. And yes, the New York-born 17-year-old is indeed the genuine offspring of the former World Player of the Year.
Tongue-in-cheek scepticism over the origins of the striker is understandable given the misuse of the Weah name previously. Indeed, the ex-PSG attacker was unwittingly in the centre of one of the most bizarre footballing stories of the last 25 years when his ‘cousin’ was signed by Southampton and even played much of a Premier League fixture against Leeds.
The story unfolded in 1996 - the dark days before a seemingly infinite amount of information was readily available on the internet – when Saints manager Graeme Souness received a phone call purportedly from Weah himself.
He was recommended a Senegalese player by the name of Aly Dia and, having received the supposed endorsement of one of the world’s best players – Weah was at AC Milan at the time – moved to offer the unknown his chance at The Dell.
“He played with George Weah at Paris Saint-Germain and last season he was playing in the second division in Germany,” the former Liverpool boss confidently told Sky’s cameras. “We’ve said, come down and train with us for a week or so and we’ll see what’s what. And that’s what we’re doing.”
Prior to joining Saints, Dia claimed he was a Senegal international and had days earlier scored twice for his country. In fact, he had been playing for non-league outfit Blyth Spartans, where manager Peter Harrison was staggered to see him turning out in the Premier League.
“Next thing I knew, I was watching him on Match of the Day. I watched him play for Southampton, which was pretty unbelievable at the time,” he admitted.
The Scot had, apparently, taken all he had told about the player by face value but had actually been talking to a university student who was a friend of Dia. It was enough to persuade Saints into signing him to a 30-day contract, which was registered with the FA on November 22, 1996.
Souness has barely spoken publicly on the matter since the event, helping it retain an almost mythical status. What there was no hiding from, however, was Dia’s performance when he finally got on the field in a Premier League match.
Matthew Le Tissier, the club’s greatest ever player, sustained a calf injury early in a fixture against Leeds, compelling Souness to throw on his wildcard. The England international was surprised Dia even got that far.
“He came down on the Friday morning and he trained with us and he played in the five-a-side. To be honest he wasn't very good,” he admitted. “Triallists come and go and I thought this was going to be the same thing and we wouldn't see him again.
"We turn up the next day to play against Leeds and he's named on the subs bench, which I thought was a bit strange.”
Dia did come close to getting himself on the scoresheet when he found room in the right channel and hit a powerful drive from a tight angle that forced Nigel Martyn into saving round the post for a corner. Had that effort gone in, it would have served only to cement his legend, but in the event provided his only highlight of a spectacularly poor display.
“It was unbelievable. He ran round the pitch like Bambi on ice, he was so embarrassing to watch Graeme Souness actually had to take him off again after half time: he was that bad. It was a great wind up, I bet he was just chuffed to get out on the pitch,” Le Tissier recounted.
The following day, Dia, who has also been offered to West Ham only for Harry Redknapp to turn him down believing it to be a “wind up”, turned up at training and reported injured. After he left, he was never seen again around the Dell and was released two weeks into his contract.
“It just goes to show the state of things at the club at the moment that a player I have never even seen, let alone watched playing in a game, was able to play in the Premiership,” Souness said after the encounter.
Events had contrived against the manager, though he had at least seen him briefly in training. Dia had been slated to play in a reserve match against Arsenal, but poor weather left the pitch sodden and the game was postponed. Had it not been for the poor weather or Le Tissier’s calf strain, a good deal of embarrassment could have been saved on both sides.
Indeed, it was only after the fact that news of Dia’s true background started to slowly seep out.
Due to the nature of events and the stern silence that the chief stakeholders on the club’s side have held, not the mention the player’s rapid disappearance from public view, what really happened may never be known.
Dia has since spoken out, but his testimony, however, seems somewhat dubious. When speaking to Bleacher Report about the incident, he said: “I did play for Paris Saint-Germain, in the second tier, in 1986-88.”
PSG did not play in the second tier in those years, and neither did their reserves.
The French club will be indelibly associated with Weah, having helped the Liberian win the Ballon d’Or in 1995, and so they will, in some small and rather strange way, be connected to the bizarre story of Dia, too.
Saints were left burned by the episode, but by signing up Timothy, at least PSG know they have the real thing.
