Kléberson (Jose
Kléberson Pereira)
Born: 19th June 1979, Brazilian.
Major Honours:
World Cup 2002, Copa América 2004, FA Cup 2004
The Brazilian World Cup winner earned what he described as a dream move
to Manchester United in the summer of 2003. However, since representing
the red half of Manchester 30 times over 2 seasons, Kléberson appears to have
subsequently disappeared off the footballing radar and has instead become known
as one of Ferguson's worst ever signings - ranking#9 on the unwelcome list drawn up by The Guardian.
Manchester United paid Atlético Paranaense approximately £6.25 million
for the World Cup winning central midfielder. The Brazilian had gained high
praise, with Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil's
manager at the time) declaring that Kléberson had indeed been "the first name on the teamsheet" during Brazil's success
at the world cup in 2002.
However, it is well know that Kléberson did not endure the best spell
during his time in England.
Seen as a replacement for Verón with the aim of releasing Scholes into a more
attacking role he struggled to make an impact, picking up a nasty injury in
just his second game for United.
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| Fergie was keen to ship the Brazilian out after 2 years at United |
His career after England
has been some-what interesting and has seen him move from Europe to North
America via a stint back in his home country of Brazil.
After Manchester, Kléberson moved to Beşiktaş, Turkey
for a fraction of the price United paid, signing a 3 year deal; however that
ended a year prematurely due to unpaid wages.
A trip back across the Atlantic saw him arrive at Flamengo, the first of
three clubs back in his home country of Brazil. He successfully found
his form again adapting back to the pace and life in the Brazilian league,
successfully making 45 appearances in his first season.
After 2 years back in Brazil,
things turned sour at Flamengo and Kléberson was loaned back to the club where
it all started, Atlético Paranaense. This proved to be unsuccessful with the
club getting relegated with two games to play before the season end. With
relegation confirmed Kléberson returned to Flamengo. He was deemed surplus to
requirements and sold to another Brazilian outfit - Bahia.
Kléberson’s time here seemed to follow a similar path to the rest of his
career. He started well and then faded. Without even completing a whole season at
Bahia, Kléberson found himself moving North-wards to the "land of the
free", USA.
Philadelphia Union to be precise, had successfully negotiated a loan deal that
would see Kléberson stay at the MLS club for the 2013
season (funnily enough, it was a loan swap deal that saw the MLS' prodigal son Freddy Adu go to Bahia).
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| Representing "The Union" |
Which bring us to the present day, Kléberson now 34 years old, a World Cup
winner 10 years previous is plying his trade in the MLS, for a team that has
relatively small hopes of reaching the playoffs at the end of the season. How
does that compare to his midfield partner from that successful World Cup
tournament?
Well Gilberto Silva, who was - like Kleberson - impressive in the Brazilian
world cup winning team managed to orchestrate a move to the Premiership, joining
Arsenal for a bargain-basement fee (with hindsight) of £4.5 million.
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| Gilberto had a career that was strides ahead |
Gilberto enjoyed an illustrious career at Arsenal that spanned 6 years
and ended with 170 appearances for the North London
club. After this he moved to Greece
and carried on his successful career amassing 78 appearances in 3 years at
Panathinaikos. He is currently residing back at Atlético Mineiro.
Within his time in Europe (from 2003 to 2011) Gilberto was the winner of 1 Premier League
winner's medal, 2 FA Cup winner's medals, 1 Super League Greece winner's medal
and 1 Greek Football Cup winner's medal, totalling 350 appearances.
For clarity; in this same time frame, Kleberson managed to win the FA
Cup and the Turkish Cup. He made under 250 appearances for the 4
clubs he represented in those 8 years.
