Keith Gillespie.
Touted wonderkids who made no impact in football
- Thread starter SambaBoy
- Start date
Daniel Braaten was superbly talented by lacked commitment.
Per Ciljan Skjelbred was Martin Ødegaard level of talent, but a very ugly injury ruined him for developing into top club material.
Per Ciljan Skjelbred was Martin Ødegaard level of talent, but a very ugly injury ruined him for developing into top club material.
Lazar Markovic, surprised no one's mentioned him yet.
ten international caps
contracted to ac milan till 2021 (though has been on loan)
Turns 24 next week and to be honest hes far from the criteria in the OP of never making it to professional football but equally hes not lived up to the considerable hype that said I think barca got their money back when they sold him to hamberg so no great loss for them
Ian Rush. Arrived at Wrexham from somewhere and couldn’t score in 17 games. Disappeared quite quickly.
Presumably Macheda has been mentioned? I was pretty young at the time of his debut goal. I remember arguing with my school mate that there was no guarantee he'd make it. My mate was convinced he would be the next big thing.
If anything it proves that arguments about potential are pointless. I won the argument fair and square but it would seem petty if I tracked this kid down, having not seen him for 10 years, just to claim my bragging rights.
If you're reading this Jack, I was right. He's a nobody now. Hope you're well.
If anything it proves that arguments about potential are pointless. I won the argument fair and square but it would seem petty if I tracked this kid down, having not seen him for 10 years, just to claim my bragging rights.
If you're reading this Jack, I was right. He's a nobody now. Hope you're well.
That was a very painful injury. But still Skjelbred is doing a very solid career nonetheless.
23 goals in 50 games for Panathanaikos in Greece. Unfulfilled potential yes, he's not a nobody though.
Yeah, solid career and absolutely something to be proud of. And there are no guarantees even without the injury, but he definitely lost a lot due to it even after recovering.
Almost every past United reserve player has been called a wonderkid on this thread. Macheda for example was never one. He was a good striker in the reserves who was thrown in the deep end in a title-winning campaign and had a memorable start to his senior career; but he had never shown that he was destined to be a starting Utd level striker before.
In my view, you have to completely dominate reserve/youth/age level football as a young teenager to be called a wonderkid.
The only United academy players who qualify to have been called a wonderkid in the past 20 years are Rossi, Pique, Pogba, Ravel Morrison, Jonny Evans and Greenwood imo.
Looking at that list, it is kind of evident why so many felt Morrison was such a waste.
In my view, you have to completely dominate reserve/youth/age level football as a young teenager to be called a wonderkid.
The only United academy players who qualify to have been called a wonderkid in the past 20 years are Rossi, Pique, Pogba, Ravel Morrison, Jonny Evans and Greenwood imo.
Looking at that list, it is kind of evident why so many felt Morrison was such a waste.
Hey now he had a very solid career for club and country
Yeah I Suppose I’m being harsh.
Consider me suitably humbled and corrected.
People mentioning Saviola, Deisler and Götze. 
From scrolling through this thread Yesil is one of my favorites. Good shout!
From scrolling through this thread Yesil is one of my favorites. Good shout!
Sotiris Ninis was supposed to be the next big thing from Greece 10 years ago.
Stefano Okaka was also ridiciliously hyped after his debut for Roma at 16.
In the early 2000s the River Plate and Santos teams had a few players. Costanzo, D''Alessandro and Cavenaghi / Robinho, Diego and Elano.
Rafael Sobis, Ganso, Thiago Neves, Nilmar,...
Stefano Okaka was also ridiciliously hyped after his debut for Roma at 16.
In the early 2000s the River Plate and Santos teams had a few players. Costanzo, D''Alessandro and Cavenaghi / Robinho, Diego and Elano.
Rafael Sobis, Ganso, Thiago Neves, Nilmar,...
Ganso
Fabian Bandy
Daniel Montenegro (aka the new Maradona circa 1998)
Daniel Montenegro (aka the new Maradona circa 1998)
Lulinha
Juan Chera - currently retired at 25 and an eSports player
Juan Chera - currently retired at 25 and an eSports player
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DAllesandro was ridiculously talented. Loved watching him.
Leandro Romagnoli at San Lorenzo was another I remember from that era. I looked him up and it looks like he ended up having a brief spell at Sporting Lisbon before returning to San Lorenzo and being a bit of a club legend, so good for him.
Wasnt Utd linked with Gauld?
The athletic has an interview with Michael Johnson today, first interview he's done and explains his decision to pack football in, great read, had all the ability in the world but just didn't have the mental ability at the time to be a top class pro, comes across as a decent bloke too.