He's 34 years old. By any rational standards his career is already determined, and anything now is just extra.
Players who scuppered their careers due to bad career management
- Thread starter GDaly95
- Start date
His at the age where his former team mates moved to Japan and the Middle East. If he moved to the MLS to “retire” no one would say anything. This is a UCL farewell tour for Messi.
I think Mkhitaryan to United (and Mourinho especially) was one of the dumbest moves I've seen in a while.
I've actually been making a bit of an effort to watch more of the French league, especially at the tail end of last season with Lille doing what they did, and it's nowhere as bad as what some people will have you believe.
Will forgive you for this as even Chelsea fans didn’t actually understand just how good he was for us until he left. He won every trophy in England and a runner up in the CL, you can hardly say it was a bad move professionally and personally iirc he and his family were happy living in London too.
Anyway Scott Carson to Liverpool.
Stuart Taylor’s whole career.
Wright-Phillips to Chelsea.
Freddy Adu to Benfica
Owen to Madrid
One of the worst has to be Sadie Berahino, pretty sure he tried to force a move away from maybe West brom and he had to stay there, he's had a few moves since but has been pure garbage.
coming to United post 2013 was not the best decision-making 
Robinho to City - was viewed as mercenary after the move. He wasn't a leader like Tevez and couldn't carry the weight of being the star of an average team. This move exposed him.
Veron- Wrong league. Similar to Pogba in the sense that in midfield it was too intense for him. He thrived in Italy where midfielders get time and space and he would have continued to thrive if he had stayed there.
Cavani to PSG - Yes he developed to a really good player, but when you see what he's offering at this age and the lack of attention he recieved due to being at PSG, theirs no doubt he would have been considered a true superstar if he had gone to England or Spain, even Bayern, he would have been a superstar.
Nasri to City- He became just another player. Arsenals size fit him.
Fabregas to Barcelona- He would have been an absolute legend, potentially even greater than the English 3 if he had stayed. He would have been worshipped at Arsenal like Bergkamp was.
Veron- Wrong league. Similar to Pogba in the sense that in midfield it was too intense for him. He thrived in Italy where midfielders get time and space and he would have continued to thrive if he had stayed there.
Cavani to PSG - Yes he developed to a really good player, but when you see what he's offering at this age and the lack of attention he recieved due to being at PSG, theirs no doubt he would have been considered a true superstar if he had gone to England or Spain, even Bayern, he would have been a superstar.
Nasri to City- He became just another player. Arsenals size fit him.
Fabregas to Barcelona- He would have been an absolute legend, potentially even greater than the English 3 if he had stayed. He would have been worshipped at Arsenal like Bergkamp was.
This. The French league is actually really good, and probably more similar in terms of intensity to the PL than any of the other top 5 leagues. It's problem is how quickly good players get snapped up, because aside form PSG, none of the clubs have any money.
Back on topic, haven't seen a mention of Torres to Chelsea yet. Moved there when he was out of form and was made to look worse by the fact that he'd come off after an hour for Drogba who would come on and be brilliant.
Griezmann to Barca also seems like one of the worst ever. Did he ever stop to think about where he was going to play when his two best positions were occupied by Messi and Suarez?
Falcao to Monaco - I know it was injuries that derailed his career, but going to Monaco was such an odd move considering he was linked to Chelsea at one point, before his injury.
Gourcuff went to Milan when he was linked to smaller clubs that probably would have been better for his development.
Drenthe looked amazing at one of the U-21 Euros, moved to Madrid too early and then never recovered
Players from that Bilbao team that made it to the Europa League finals under Bielsa come to mind. Llorente made the wrong choice moving to Juventus but maybe a player like Iker Muniain should have moved. I know Muniain was linked a few years ago to Liverpool but he never really reached his potential.
Also, there are a number of players who seemed to have chosen money over success, which is fine. But players like Oscar and Jackson Martinez probably could have had more successful careers. Even Hulk - he was linked to a number of big clubs when he was at Porto, but he chose to go to Zenit when they were bankrolled by an oligarch and then China
Gourcuff went to Milan when he was linked to smaller clubs that probably would have been better for his development.
Drenthe looked amazing at one of the U-21 Euros, moved to Madrid too early and then never recovered
Players from that Bilbao team that made it to the Europa League finals under Bielsa come to mind. Llorente made the wrong choice moving to Juventus but maybe a player like Iker Muniain should have moved. I know Muniain was linked a few years ago to Liverpool but he never really reached his potential.
Also, there are a number of players who seemed to have chosen money over success, which is fine. But players like Oscar and Jackson Martinez probably could have had more successful careers. Even Hulk - he was linked to a number of big clubs when he was at Porto, but he chose to go to Zenit when they were bankrolled by an oligarch and then China
Torres was already busted by the time Chelsea came in. It was a poor move for Chelsea, more than hurting his trajectory
Van de beek
Bernardeschi
Bernardeschi
Alan Shearer. He may have been a great goal scorer but just won one league title and that is it. He was pretty lucky to win that as well if United had been able to score against West Ham he would have ended his career with nothing.
Gazza. If he had a more disciplined team to sign with after leaving Newcastle he would have been one of the greats of the game. He did make a name for himself, but actually, any winning was done in the Scottish league.
Le Tessier. A brilliant player who won nothing at all.
Des Walker. Spent too long at Forrest and did not manage to win a title. A brilliant defender who deserved more.
Gazza. If he had a more disciplined team to sign with after leaving Newcastle he would have been one of the greats of the game. He did make a name for himself, but actually, any winning was done in the Scottish league.
Le Tessier. A brilliant player who won nothing at all.
Des Walker. Spent too long at Forrest and did not manage to win a title. A brilliant defender who deserved more.
It’s hard to see the term scuppered career next too many of these names mentioned on the thread when you consider a lot of the wrong decisions these players made….earned them absolute fortunes
I know that’s sadly the nature of the game these days and that this thread is more about players that tainted their reputations or just didn’t achieve enough considering their quality because of the decisions they made, but ultimately with Millions in the bank to last many lifetimes…..I’m sure they feel more than content
I was going to mention Mario Balotelli
terrible attitude, never reached his potential
but then he’s got 3 Serie A Titles under his belt, including a Champions League Title, Premier League Title, FA Cup, Coppa Italia, Super Coppa Italia
and a net worth of reportedly $80 million
what a failure
I know that’s sadly the nature of the game these days and that this thread is more about players that tainted their reputations or just didn’t achieve enough considering their quality because of the decisions they made, but ultimately with Millions in the bank to last many lifetimes…..I’m sure they feel more than content
I was going to mention Mario Balotelli
terrible attitude, never reached his potential
but then he’s got 3 Serie A Titles under his belt, including a Champions League Title, Premier League Title, FA Cup, Coppa Italia, Super Coppa Italia
and a net worth of reportedly $80 million
what a failure
Mariano Diaz
Played at Real Madrid b-team, had some limited but productive minutes in the first team and got himself a move to Lyon, where he played a decent amount and had a nice salary.
Problem is after 1 year Real Madrid decided to buy him back and gave him the same salary. Very little upside for him professionally, since realistically the best that could happen is he'd perform well again and be sold to another team.
The move didn't really work out. The club now wants him gone but since he can't get that salary elsewhere he's just been riding the bench. After four seasons in the first team (the first one plus the three since his return), he's only accumulated 1000 minutes of La Liga play.
He turned 28 in August, he'll run out his contract (2023) and will have spent all of his prime years doing nothing.
Played at Real Madrid b-team, had some limited but productive minutes in the first team and got himself a move to Lyon, where he played a decent amount and had a nice salary.
Problem is after 1 year Real Madrid decided to buy him back and gave him the same salary. Very little upside for him professionally, since realistically the best that could happen is he'd perform well again and be sold to another team.
The move didn't really work out. The club now wants him gone but since he can't get that salary elsewhere he's just been riding the bench. After four seasons in the first team (the first one plus the three since his return), he's only accumulated 1000 minutes of La Liga play.
He turned 28 in August, he'll run out his contract (2023) and will have spent all of his prime years doing nothing.
League titles is a strange benchmark to me, particularly for older players because there wasn't as much talent concentration as there is today or at least it wasn't a thing in many teams. It's a fairly recent thing that you can join a club knowing that they will win a lot. Ronaldo played for arguably the biggest clubs on the continent and he only has one league title and no Champions League. Someone like Shevchenko has one league title outside of Ukraine.
Kane - will possibly finish his career with no trophies.
Neymar - could have been a superstar and a legend of the game. Now he's those things only in his own mind.
Pogba - he'd be a legend here if it weren't for his agent. And possibly a better player.
Gazza - who knows how his life let alone his career might have turned out had he come to play under Ferguson, all over a free house.
Messi - PSG will be a blot on his legacy, all because he wasn't happy with the hundreds of millions he's already got.
Neymar - could have been a superstar and a legend of the game. Now he's those things only in his own mind.
Pogba - he'd be a legend here if it weren't for his agent. And possibly a better player.
Gazza - who knows how his life let alone his career might have turned out had he come to play under Ferguson, all over a free house.
Messi - PSG will be a blot on his legacy, all because he wasn't happy with the hundreds of millions he's already got.
Stam was pushed out of United and did well for Lazio and Milan thereafter.
True. In any case, his form did recover after a while at Chelsea; he was a key player in the successful Europa campaign under Benitez.
The most obvious ones seem to be young hopefuls, particularly English ones, who go for big money moves to “top” clubs, only to end up spending their time on the bench when they’re at a time in their career when they need game time to develop. Rodwell to City being an obvious one.
Though it could be argued that going for the easy big money move at the expense of their career development is a sign of weakness of character and thus they wouldn’t have made it anyway. Compare and contrast with the likes of Sancho and Haaland.
Though it could be argued that going for the easy big money move at the expense of their career development is a sign of weakness of character and thus they wouldn’t have made it anyway. Compare and contrast with the likes of Sancho and Haaland.
I think one thing is not working out for a club (which is quite understandable) and happens a lot. But there are others, particularly young players, who have messed up their careers with a wrong move.
Le Tissier wanted to stay at Southampton and will now be forever a legend there.
If he moved to Arsenal and was on the bench all the time then he would have scuppered his career
I think a good example is someone like Lingard. His career would benefit massively from a move and he’s proven he can perform to an exceptionally high level in the PL outside of United. Maybe he’s just happy being at his boyhood club and being a squad option but it is detrimental to his footballing career.
Le Tissier isn’t a good example because he never wanted to leave/wasn’t obsessed by trophies and had a great career where he was the key player for his favourite team - in contrast to Kane who has made it clear he’s not committed to Spurs and does want to move, therefore signing that deal was such a stupid move.
Le Tissier isn’t a good example because he never wanted to leave/wasn’t obsessed by trophies and had a great career where he was the key player for his favourite team - in contrast to Kane who has made it clear he’s not committed to Spurs and does want to move, therefore signing that deal was such a stupid move.
Hulk and Oscar are the first who comes to mind for me, apart from the obvious Gazza.
Both could have played for a very good team, but chose money. Guess it's not a waste in some way, but they could have won more in bigger leagues.
Both could have played for a very good team, but chose money. Guess it's not a waste in some way, but they could have won more in bigger leagues.
And getting paid quite well.
A key point! Although would he be that much worse off at WHUM?
Riquelme to Barcelona. LVG never wanted him and shunted him out wide where he obviously wasn’t suited for. Played brilliantly at Villarreal and showed his world class ability but he wasted a lot of European glory by having the black mark of the Barcelona failure to his name.
That's all good, but what did he win in his career? That's what people are remembered for besides their own club's fans.
Neymar.
Who cares about anyone else's fans?
Any player who went to the chinese super league
Oscar being prime example although his bank account would argue that
Oscar being prime example although his bank account would argue that
Why the hell are we even discussing other clubs' players then? All the ones listed here did not play for United so why even bring them up? Why bother to discuss what the hell they did with their careers?
And the biggest "why" is, why are you even bothered with what I wrote about Le Tessier?
Reus staying in Dortmund his whole career similar to Totti, worth a shout?
World class in their prime, could've won ballon d'Or if they played for more successful team perhaps.
Okay ballon d'Or stands for Totti, not a chance for Reus as he played in an era of Messi and Ronnie.
World class in their prime, could've won ballon d'Or if they played for more successful team perhaps.
Okay ballon d'Or stands for Totti, not a chance for Reus as he played in an era of Messi and Ronnie.
Andy Carroll?
Pogba to United - Was among the top 5 sought after midfielders. Became inconsistent and his career graph hardly moved up.
Mata to United - Another good player. Had a great run in no 10 position at Chelsea. Moved to United where he was tried to be converted into a winger. Never worked, but that was pretty much the only position he would be played by multiple managers. Wasted his prime years.
Herrera to United - Although not talented as the ones above, was a great prospect who could have done very well in a stable team. Joined United in transition and wasted his prime years here. His career graph could have gone much better in other teams.
Mata to United - Another good player. Had a great run in no 10 position at Chelsea. Moved to United where he was tried to be converted into a winger. Never worked, but that was pretty much the only position he would be played by multiple managers. Wasted his prime years.
Herrera to United - Although not talented as the ones above, was a great prospect who could have done very well in a stable team. Joined United in transition and wasted his prime years here. His career graph could have gone much better in other teams.
Giovinco to Juve.
I mean he was always a Juve player, just loaned out, but returning to Juve wasn't good for his career.
I mean he was always a Juve player, just loaned out, but returning to Juve wasn't good for his career.
Neymar to PSG (waste of his prime years playing in 5th best league)
Pogba to Man Utd (he is great now, but should have won more and dominate more elsewhere)
Veron to Man Utd (shouldn't come here, when we already have best midfield 4 in the world)
Pogba to Man Utd (he is great now, but should have won more and dominate more elsewhere)
Veron to Man Utd (shouldn't come here, when we already have best midfield 4 in the world)
Not sure if they fit here. Both became or are still becoming legends at their clubs and at least won something, but surely less than they could have got with other clubs.
But the legend status should be considered as an important point when looking at their whole career.
Shearer to Newcastle.
No one remembers most players who've won anything, other than the fans of the club they won the trophies at.
Hell I've heard Le Tissier's name more than many other players just because people always bring him up as "great player who didn't win trophies."