5 footballers who flopped in the Premier League but flourished elsewhere

The English Premier League is regarded as one of the most competitive in the world. But while some of the best players from across the globe have graced the league over the years, not all of them were able to find their feet.

Many players have seen their career nose-dive after their disappointing experience in the Premier League, while some others left England to flourish in other countries.

Here we profile five of those stars that came to the Premier League with a reputation either as a proven goal-scorer or influential play-maker but failed to shine for their team, before leaving the country and getting their career back on track.

1. Diego Forlan (Manchester United)

Diego Forlan arrived in England in 2002 with a big reputation as a prolific goal scorer. Manchester United signed him from Independiente, where he had scored 37 goals in 77 matches.

A lot was expected from him at Old Trafford but unfortunately he could not deliver as he found it difficult to tie down a regular place in the team. In the two years he spent at Manchester United, Forlan scored just 10 goals from 63 matches.

In 2004 he left England for Spain to join Villareal, and it marked the beginning of the resurgence of his career. He scored 25 goals that season to win the Pichichi trophy for the most goals scored in La Liga, and also shared the European Golden boot award with Thierry Henry.

Forlan spent three years at Villarreal and scored 54 goals in 106 matches. He joined Atletico Madrid in 2007 and scored 23 goals in his first season at the club.

The following season the Uruguayan scored an impressive 32 goals in 33 matches to win both the Pichichi trophy and the European Golden Boot for a second time. In his four years at Atletico Madrid, he scored 74 goals in 136 matches.

He also proved his mettle on the international stage with Uruguay, and won the best player award at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Forlan continued his scoring spree at every club he played, amassing a total of 222 career goals in 526 matches.

2. Juan Sebastian Veron (Manchester United / Chelsea)

Juan Sebastian Veron of Man Utd looks on

Juan Sebastian Veron joined Manchester United from Lazio in 2001.

Coming on the back of a Scudetto-winning season in Italy, Veron was expected to light up Old Trafford with his sublime ball distribution skills. But things didn't quite go according to plan for the Argentine as he found it difficult to adapt to the fast pace of the league.

A series of injuries also meant that Veron spent a good part of his two years at Manchester United on the treatment table. He played 51 matches in total and scored 7 goals for United, and was labelled an expensive flop by fans and pundits alike.

Chelsea took a gamble on Veron when they signed him from Manchester United in 2003 as the then Blues manager Claudio Ranieri believed he could get the best out of him. But again it was not to be for Veron, as injuries limited his appearances to 15 matches for the season.

Such was the disappointment over Veron's performance in England that the Times newspaper listed his transfer to Manchester United and Chelsea among the 50 worst transfers ever in Premier League history.

Veron left England and first returned to Italy with Inter Milan before moving back home to Argentina to join his childhood club, Estudiantes, in 2006.

In his first season in Argentina, Veron helped Estudiantes win the Apertura tournament for the first time in 23 years and was named among the top three players in the Argentine league by sports news paper, Ole.

Among the other highlights of his eight-year spell at the club, Veron also helped Estudiantes win the Copa Libertadores in 2009 and was named the best player of the final by fans on fifa.com.

He was also named South American Footballer of the year twice (2008 & 2009) by Uruguyan newspaper El Pais.

3. Radamel Falcao (Manchester United / Chelsea)

Radamel Falcao in the Manchester United v Newcastle United match

Radamel Falcao built a reputation for himself as one of the deadliest strikers in Europe with his exploits for Porto and Atletico Madrid. He won the the Europa Cup for the two teams in 2011 and 2012 respectively, becoming the first player in history to win back-to-back Europa Cup titles with two different clubs.

Falcao was also the top scorer on both occasions, and his tally of 17 goals in 14 matches for Porto in 2011 was a goal scoring record in the Europa league that is yet to be surpassed.

Falcao scored 41 goals in 51 appearances for Porto (2009 - 2011) and 52 goals in 68 appearances for Atletico Madrid (2011 - 2013) before joining Monaco in 2013.

He continued his scoring spree at Monaco though the goals were not as regular as they were in his previous adventures in Portugal and Spain - largely due to injury. Then came a loan move to Manchester United with the option of making the deal permanent.

But things did not go to plan for the both player and the club as the Colombian scored only 4 goals in 29 appearances in a very unproductive campaign. United's manager Louis van Gaal even banished him to the reserve team at one point.

He was considered by many to be one of the worst signings of the season, and it was not surprising that Manchester United refused to exercise their option to buy the player at the end of the season.

Falcao moved to Chelsea on another season loan deal with the Blues also having the option to sign him permanently. But yet again, Falcao failed to deliver at Stamford Bridge - ending the season with just one goal in 7 matches after battling with injuries all through.

After the disappointing adventure in the Premier League, Falcao returned to Monaco in 2016 and immediately rediscovered his scoring instincts. In his first season back in France he scored 30 goals in 43 appearances as Monaco won the Ligue 1 title.

He scored 24 goals in 36 appearances last season to once again prove that he is back to his scoring best and that he has finally put his disappointing premiership experience behind him.

4. Iago Aspas (Liverpool)

Iago Aspas

37 goals in 75 matches for Celta Vigo put Iago Aspas on the shopping window and Liverpool felt they had unearthed a precious gem when they snapped him up in 2013.

Though many fans expressed their reservations over the rationale to sign a relatively unknown player, Liverpool's manager Brendan Rogers was adamant that Aspas was going to be a success in England.

But it turned out to be the opposite as the Spaniard failed to get going and played second fiddle to the other strikers in the team throughout the season.

One goal in seven matches was the return on investment for Aspas, which was obviously not good enough. A loan move to Seville followed in 2014 and then a permanent move back to Celta Vigo a year later.

Back at his natural habitat, Aspas returned to his scoring ways as he netted 26 goals in 49 appearances in his first season back and 23 goals in 37 appearances last season.

His goal-scoring exploits saw him win his first cap for Spain in 2016 and he went on to feature in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

5. Florian Thauvin (Newcastle United)

Newcastle United v Leicester City - Premier League

In January 2014, he was named by British newspaper The Observer as one of the 10 most promising young players in Europe - such was the reputation and high regard with which Thauvin was held in the football world when Newcastle United signed him from Marseille in 2015.

Unfortunately for him though, his one-season stay at St.James Park could be best described as a disaster; the young striker found it extremely difficult to settle in the Premier League.

With just one goal in 16 appearances, Thauvin was loaned back to Marseille in 2016. And after impressing with 15 goals in the 2016/17 season, the move was made permanent.

Thauvin exploded last season with 26 goals in 52 matches as Marseille reached the 2018 Europa League final. He was also part of the France team that emerged world champions at the 2016 World Cup in Russia.