10 wonderkids who failed to reach their potential

#8 Valeri Bojinov

Valeri Bojinov in action for Juventus

Considering how long he's been around, you'd think Valeri Bojinov would be retired by now, but no. He's 31, but lightyears away from the level he used to be at.

Bojinov was only 15 when he made his Serie A debut back in 2002 for Lecce and he played for Bulgaria as a 17-year-old at EURO 2004.

Bojinov was basically the best thing to come out from Bulgaria since Hristo Stoichkov and the early signs were very positive. Unlike many faded wonderkids, he actually spent a good amount of time in top European football with stints at Fiorentina, Juventus and Manchester City. Plus a host of other top-flight clubs in Italy and Portugal. Yet things eventually fell apart.

The now 31-year-old striker found himself back in his homeland in 2013/14. His final international appearances came around the same time. Later there was one good year in Serbia, scoring 18 goals in 31 games for Partizan in 2015/16, but he hasn't even scored ten league goals since then.

Bojinov terminated his contract with Partizan by mutual consent in February and ended up finishing the season in China's second division. He was back in Europe for this season, signing with Lausanne in Switzerland, but he's a free agent now.

"His contribution was not what was expected," said the club in October when announcing the termination of Bojinov's contract. Lausanne was the 14th different team for Bojinov.