With all of the top-notch expertise, training facilities and – not just financial – incentives in the game, pros have it better than ever these days.
The best teams have scouting networks that reach every corner of the globe, in order to unearth young gems before they become multi-million dollar men. It’s one of the ways smaller clubs stay competitive against their mightier, richer rivals. Sometimes, it’s also a way for smaller clubs to sell you a dud and make a quick buck.
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Plucked from their first coach’s womb in their most tender years, the average professional footballer may train anything up to 10,000 hours before acquiring that status. If you’ve got the talent, though, you’ll probably have major clubs swooning at your feet months before that.
Martin Odegaard, Alen Halilovic and even Romelu Lukaku are just some of the young superstars who burst very aggressively onto the global scene, to the tune of hundreds of adoring phone calls from top clubs across the planet. There are many others, but very few who actually took it anywhere beyond that childhood glamour.
Today, we’ll take a look at some of football’s most highly-rated youngsters who wound up as terrible purchases – for one or all of their clubs!
1) Giovani Dos Santos
Giovani Dos Santos was one of the most exciting names to come out of Mexican football in years.
A key playmaker and supporting striker for Mexico’s triumphant U-17 World Champions (2005), he assisted half of his nation’s goals in the tournament. He won the Silver Boot for it, to go with his Bronze Boot in the U-20 version two years later. He was also a part of their victorious 2012 Olympics squad, although injury ruled him out of the final.
A graduate of Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy since he was 11, his progress there was exemplary. By August 2007, the 18-year old forward was deemed ready to make his competitive debut for the Catalan giants.
On the last day of the 07/08 season, he scored a hat-trick against Real Murcia. It took his season’s tally to a mere 4 goals in 28 appearances. That was enough to earn the disappointing talent a move away to Tottenham Hotspur.
There, it only took him 12 games to earn another move; a loan to Championship side Ipswich in January, where he once again only managed 4 goals, albeit in 8 appearances. The following year, he was farmed out to Galatasaray, where he managed a grand total of 0 goals in 14 games. By 2012, he would leave Tottenham having spent 3 years on loan and having never scored for them.
After comparatively decent spells at Mallorca and Villareal, he signed for LA Galaxy last year. He’s still only 26 though, and will fancy making an impact there after a very difficult club career. Harry Redknapp probably wouldn’t bet on it though, saying in 2010, “If he could pass a nightclub as well as he can pass a ball, he would be all right.”
2) Kerlon
Many football fans will be familiar with the seal dribble – but very few will remember its ‘inventor’, Brazilian child prodigy Kerlon.
Okay, maybe that’s not the right term – though it must’ve felt quite appropriate 11 years ago, after the U-17 South American Championship. He scored 8 goals to win the Top Scorer and Best Player awards, leaving his club side Cruzeiro salivating at his prospects. The following season, they won the league title.
By 2008, Kerlon had made just 29 appearances and a single goal but the ‘seal dribble’ had attracted serious interest and he was signed by Inter (through an agreement with Chievo) in 2008. In the next four years, injuries would limit him to only five competitive games for four different teams, and not a single one for Inter Milan.
He had a slightly happier spell as a free transfer for Fujieda MYFC in Japan, scoring 9 in 22 games – in 2 years!
His nomadic career has taken him on trial with one club in the US before signing with another team. It’s also taken him on the same path but this time in Malta, where he played for Sliema Wanderers.
Now, the diminutive forward is back in Brazil – playing fourth-tier football (which only started seven years ago) and dreaming about seals and dribbles!
3) Ravel Morrison
The 23-year-old Englishman is another one of the increasingly long line of English child prodigies who never bloomed.
Blessed with blistering pace and dribbling ability, he had United coaches fawning over him and he signed a professional contract as soon as his 17th birthday came round. He represented his national team at every youth level, also winning the FA Youth Cup in 2011.
By the end of 2012, he signed for Sam Allardyce’s West Ham side, going on loan to Birmingham for the 2012-2013 season. There, his attitude problems almost got him out of the team but a top performance against the current league champions-in-waiting, Leicester, seemed to be a turning point.
The following season he was back with West Ham, and in their hat-trick of derby wins over Tottenham he scored their 3rd goal at White Hart Lane – with a delicious slaloming run!
However, rumours of a very poor attitude and off-the-field court cases involving witness intimidation and assault continued to plague the young man’s life. Although nobody ever doubted his talent, he has bounced from QPR and Cardiff to Lazio, where he is now. In all that time, he has only managed 25 appearances and 3 goals – a very poor return from someone Rio Ferdinand described as one of Alex Ferguson’s finest prospects.
Perhaps Sam Allardyce put it best when he said, “It’s not that he has to impress me as a footballer, we know about his talent. It’s about playing the talent and himself to a disciplined life in general, is what needs to happen with Rav. If that happens we’d want him here.”
Morrison had scored 13 goals in 33 games that season but was quickly shuttled out of West Ham that same month. We guess it wasn’t because of his talent.
4) Fabio Paim
Cristiano Ronaldo can jump really high.
As in truly, very, very high! So when Fabio Paim and the Portuguese legend played together as budding young stars at Sporting, it’s safe to say he made friends in very high places. That’s probably what gave the young man’s career a kickstart, as young prodigy Ronaldo once said of him, “If you think I'm good, just wait until you see Fábio Paím".
Friendship is indeed a beautiful thing, but fans of Sporting (on whose books he remained for three years without a single match) and numerous teams around the globe are still waiting to see him.
While Ronaldo himself has become one of history’s most lethal hitmen, Paim has become the transfer market’s equivalent. Since 2007, he has signed for 16 teams, making less than 10 appearances for about 12 of those. In that time, he’s only scored FOUR competitive goals but travelled to Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Angola and Qatar.
Maybe Fabio Paim is really just interested in travelling a lot and needed someone to pay his fees. If that’s the case, then his record makes sense. Otherwise, we’d suggest Cristiano Ronaldo give marketing a shot once he retires!
5) Keirrison
The 6ft-tall Coritiba striker took Brazilian football by storm in 2007, as he drove his team to the 2nd tier title with 21 goals in the season. The following year, his 41 goals led them to the league title and alongisde it, a plethora of individual awards including – Best Player, Best Striker, Golden Shoe & Best Newcomer.
The following season he joined Palmeiras, scoring 24 goals and earning a move to FC Barcelona. Up until then he had averaged a goal every other game – but that was the end of that.
From 2009 to 2012, he would go on a tour of four clubs in three nations, scoring only seven goals. Then, he went back where it all started, his alma mater of Coritiba. The exciting young striker they had sold just a few years before could only net five more goals in the following two years. That’s an astounding return from the man who had won them the league title so convincingly just years before.
The reunion ended sourly, with Keirrison suing the club over unpaid debts, and refusing to play because he “would not be ready". In their director’s words, what he really might’ve meant was that, “he checked his bank account and the money was not there yet".
He was last seen in Thailand, as negotiations with Buriram United broke down in January 2016.
6) Freddy Adu
The Ghanaian-born American international’s career is surely one of the most famous horror stories for budding academy players.
At the tender age of 14, DC United made Fredua Koranteng Adu the youngest American footballer to sign a professional contract. By April 2004, he was the youngest American to ever appear in professional sports.
After 87 matches and only 11 goals though, DC United cut their losses and traded young Freddy Adu for a goalkeeper and future allocations. And that, kids, is where the merry-go-round began.
Since 2007, the ‘Next Pele’ has played football in 13 teams in 8 countries, including Serbia, Finland and Portugal. In that time, he has managed 16 goals in 90 appearances, as well as some special appearances as a nightclub promoter.
Now back in the United States with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, he is still fighting to salvage something from a career that promised so much. Perhaps he put it best when he said, “Everything that I’ve been through and everything that hurt my career, I brought it on myself because I didn’t dedicate enough time to it”.
Youngsters, be warned!
7) Billy Kenny Jr.
In 1992, Everton’s academy proudly unveiled their brand new striker, Willy Kenny in a 1-1 draw with Coventry City.
In the stands, former Everton player Billy Kenny Sr. must’ve been beaming to see his son graduating into the team where he could only make 14 appearances in 3 years. It must’ve been a proud moment for the Evertonian family. Let’s hope they enjoyed it because it was very short-lived.
At the beginning of his career, he was making serious waves in the English game. Former Everton superstar Peter Beardsley even went as far as to call him the Goodison Gazza – an ominous portent for his future (without any of the top-class football).
After starring in the first ever Merseyside derby the fancy new Premier League threw up, the powerful 19-year-old looked set to become a top, top player.
Instead, after 17 starts and months marred by injury, he was released for ‘gross misbehaviour’. This was after samples of his blood revealed just how far along his cocaine and alcohol addiction was.
At Oldham Athletic, he scored an own-goal and played just 4 times before being sacked from the club. At the ripe old age of 21, he had retired from professional football.
In a candid interview, he went on to explain how and why he had failed, with the difficult period while recovering from injury triggering much of his misdemeanours. “Some Monday mornings, I got home at four or five o'clock, had a couple of lines of coke, slept for an hour or so, then got a cab to the training ground.”
8) Michael Johnson
If you’ve seen that goal against Derby County then you probably clapped as much as Sven Goran-Eriksson, who thought he’d found, “the next big star for England“.
The young graduate of his beloved Leeds, Everton and Manchester City’s academies was a thrilling introduction to Manchester City’s team in 2006. Although injuries broke his run of seven consecutive games for the 1st team, it was clear they had a talent on their hands.
When Johnson announced his return with that fabulous strike against basement boys Derby in August 2007, it felt like a new dawn for City. Not only was an academy man scoring an absolute gem, it was also City’s first home league goal that year.
Unfortunately, the sheer frequency and seriousness of his injuries meant that he never managed a good run in games in the first-team. Despite his obvious talent, he was restricted to 43 appearances for Manchester City and Leicester on loan, between 2006-2012. He was then released by Manchester City, without even playing in half of those seasons.
After this, he was caught drink driving several times, until he finally addressed the English media to state that he was dealing with mental health issues and "would be grateful if I could now be left alone to live the rest of my life.”
9) Federico Macheda
Poached from Lazio’s academy at 16 by Alex Ferguson, Federico Macheda’s talent was spotted very young.
By 17, he’d signed for Manchester United professionally and was making regular appearances in the youth team and reserves. As the 2008/2009 season came to it’s “squeaky-bum time”, Macheda began to pick up form and scored 8 goals in 8 games for the reserves.
That prompted Sir Alex to give him a shot with the first team, and in fantastic style he responded with a brilliant curler to snatch a crucial three points from Aston Villa, in the 3rd minute of extra-time. Ronaldo had just scored a brilliant equaliser, and the comeback was complete! Macheda slotted in very neatly, and it was clear he’d do big things in future fixtures.
In 36 games for the Red Devils, he would score only five goals, including a late handball consolation at Old Trafford as Chelsea stomped their way to the 2009/2010 title.
In the six years since he has played for six more clubs; of which his only noteworthy spell was at Birmingham where he actually did very well, ending the season as their top-scorer with 10 goals from 10 starts and 8 subs. He was loaned to five teams by United before transferring permanently to Cardiff City.
He’s now on loan at Nottingham Forest.
10) Cherno Samba
The son of a Gambian international goalkeeper, Cherno Samba gained his short-lived fame at the other end of the pitch.
Playing for the St. Joseph’s Academy’s football team, then 13-year old Samba scored a preposterous 132 goals in 32 games for them. It got people raving mad, especially the makers of the popular Championship Manager football game, who rated his prospects very highly.
His strange career began at Millwall, who would try to secure the young man’s future by blocking a £2 million move to Liverpool while ensuring his education stayed undisturbed.
For him it was great, but for them it was a big mistake. By 2004, they sold him to Cadiz FC, from where he would begin a grand career of 5 nations, 7 clubs, just 50 appearances and a grand total of 15 goals – in EIGHT years!
Despite that, he still managed to represent England at every youth echelon and won his first full cap for Gambia in 2008.
When he retired, he acknowledged the media hype for giving him a career. “I might not be where I am today without their exposure and writing about me,” he said in his leaving adress – a fitting end to an underwhelming career in 2012.
