The bizarre story of Qatari youngster signed for Man Utd by Ferguson – who went on to play for Man City

YOU have probably heard of most players to have crossed the Manchester divide; Andy Cole, Peter Schmeichel, Carlos Tevez and Denis Law among them.

However, you probably don’t know the story of Hussein Yasser, who played for both and had a very bizarre career path.

GettyHussein Yasser played for both Manchester City and Manchester United[/caption]

Yasser started his career with Qatari football team Al-Rayyan, before Sir Alex Ferguson snapped him up for Manchester United in 2002.

A dream Premier League move beckoned, but owing to the lack of a work permit, he was instead shipped out to United feeder club Royal Antwerp in Belgium.

Things got off to a good start for him, scoring against Club Brugge in just his third start for the club.

Unfortunately, this was as good as it got for Yasser.

He was sent off just four games later and failed to add another goal to his tally for the season despite appearing a total of 21 times.

Yasser fared no better the following season, and having failed to prove his quality he was shipped off on a free transfer to Cyprus before moving back to his native Qatar.

However, while there Yasser was spotted by Algerian midfielder Ali Benarbia, who coincidentally had lined up with then Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce.

Benarbia recommended the United flop to Pearce, as well as ex-Barcelona midfielder Pep Guardiola.

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Pearce ended up signing the former, with United legend Cole – who was at City that season – later describing the decision as “odd”.

This time around, his career in Manchester did get started.

Yasser’s debut appearance for the Cityzens came in the 2005 League Cup second round clash against Doncaster, with him being subbed off in the 65th minute as they lost 4-1 on penalties.

The Qatar international was not afforded the chance of another appearance, and was subsequently let go in January.

A season and a half with Al-Saad and Al-Rayyan followed, before Yasser once again found himself on the European scene with Portuguese side Braga.

He made an instant impact too, scoring and adding two assists against Hammarby in the Uefa Cup as he became the first Qatari national to play in the tournament.

But once again, Yasser flattered to deceive, adding just one more goal before going out on loan to Boavista for the remainder of the season.

His club career thereafter saw him move to Egypt, back to Belgium and then back to Qatar before a short stint in Spain in 2016/17.

He finally retired in 2018 with Wadi Degla FC.

His international career – which saw him make a total of 69 appearances – also saw him fall flat on his face at the end.

During the 2011 Asian Cup, Yasser – who had just been handed the No10 jersey – kicked up a fuss following a 2-0 defeat to Uzbekistan.

This ill-discipline saw him sent home, with team manager Abdulrahman Al Mahmoud explaining: “Yasser was removed because his response wasn’t up to the expectations and he was absent from some training sessions.”

Yasser made just two more appearances for the Maroons, one in 2011 during the World Cup qualifying campaign, and the other during a 4-0 win over the Maldives in 2015.