5 Premier League players who disappeared completely in recent seasons

The life of an average footballer is very fickle and promising careers can fade into obscurity within the span of a season or two. Young players who play in some of Europe's top leagues can often find themselves becoming the subject of hype early on in their career, only to be frozen out of first-team action if they do not develop adequately.

The Premier League is far from immune when it comes to this phenomenon, with Premier League academies churning out scores of promising youngsters who eventually become mere footnotes in history. Serious injuries that sideline players for long periods of time can also cause a player's position at a club to dwindle into that of a spectator.

A notable example of this was Manchester United's Federico Macheda, who scored a couple of goals for United in the 2008-09 season. He was almost instantaneously declared to be the future of the club, but the Italian would go on to make only 30 more appearances for the Red Devils in 5 seasons.

He eventually faded into oblivion, and his greatest accomplishment as a footballer will now and forever be scoring the winner in a league match against Aston Villa. This list examines five other Premier League players who have disappeared completely in recent seasons.

---

#5 James McCarthy - Everton

James McCarthy began his career at Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Premiership, but the midfielder truly came into his own after his move to Wigan in 2009. McCarthy quickly became a first-team regular under Roberto Martinez and his performances for Wigan also earned him a call-up to Republic of Ireland national team. McCarthy's best moment in a Wigan shirt came in 2013 as Wigan beat Manchester City to win the FA Cup.

McCarthy moved to Everton with manager Roberto Martinez in the following season and enjoyed three good seasons at Merseyside, making 113 appearances. A hamstring injury sustained while McCarthy was on international duty has limited his appearances in recent seasons, with the midfielder only making 14 appearances since 2016. Managerial changes, an influx of players and further injuries have made McCarthy a distant memory of sorts.

#4 Loic Remy

Loic Remy was restricted to a bit-part role at Chelsea

The French striker arrived in the Premier League from Marseille during the 2012-13 season, where he made an instant impact, scoring 6 goals in 14 games for Queens Park Rangers. However, this was not enough to save QPR from relegation, and he was loaned out to Newcastle in the following season.

Remy enjoyed one of the most prolific seasons of his career at Newcastle, scoring 14 goals in 26 appearances. His form earned him a move to Chelsea, where he spent the 2014-15 season as a back-up to Diego Costa, scoring 7 league goals as the Blues went on to win the Premier League.

The next season was not kind for Chelsea, who were 16th in the league at one point of time. Remy fell out of favour and saw his appearances limited to brief cameos, and the striker was loaned out to Crystal Palace. However, an injury early on meant that he struggled at Palace, making only 8 appearances for them. Remy was eventually let go by Chelsea in the summer of 2017, and he currently plays for Las Palmas in La Liga.

#3 Luke Shaw

Luke Shaw recently came first in a fitness test at United but still can't find a way back into the team

Southampton's academy has overseen the development of several talented young English players, and it seemed for a while like Luke Shaw might be the latest Southampton product to make it big. After featuring in the PFA Team of the Year for 2013-14, Shaw signed for Manchester United in 2014, the same year that he received his first England senior team call-up. Shaw was just a few months shy of turning 19, and the left-back was poised to take the world by storm.

Unfortunately, a series of injuries limited him to just 20 appearances in the 2014-15 season. Shaw started the following season brightly but was yet again forced out of the squad for an extended period after suffering a double leg fracture, which kept him out of the squad for seven months.

Shaw struggled for game time in the following year, failing to impress the new Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho. Mourinho publicly questioned his attitude during the season and the relationship between the two soured. Shaw is yet to appear in a Premier League game in the 2017-18 season, and it's hard to see a way back into the Manchester United squad for the Englishman.

#2 Danny Ings

Danny Ings' left knee has caused him no end of problems

Danny Ings began his professional career at Bournemouth, spending two seasons at the club before he moved to Burnley in 2011. The youngster was primarily used as a back-up striker until the departure of Jay Rodriguez to Southampton, after which he became a first-choice regular. Charlie Austin's move to Queens Park Rangers further cemented Ings' position as the main striker in the 2013-14 season and the striker scored 21 goals in the league as Burnley gained promotion to the Premier League.

Burnley performed decently in their first season in the top-flight and Ings played well enough to earn himself an England call-up as well as a move to Liverpool. Things were looking up for Ings and the striker put in some good performances in his first few matches.

Unfortunately for the striker, the brightest and most promising months of his career were leading up to calamity and an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee ruled him out for the rest of the season. Since then Ings has suffered from a cruel and cyclical procession of injuries, with the striker coming back time and again only to get injured. The striker has gradually been phased out of the first team and has played only 12 games in all competitions for Liverpool in two and a half seasons.

#1 Erik Lamela

Dele Alli and Son Heung-min have played extremely well in Lamela's preferred position

In the summer of 2013 Tottenham sold Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a record amount close to £90 million. Spurs promptly reinvested that money, spending it on seven promising young players. Of those seven, only two currently play for Tottenham, namely the Danish virtuoso Christian Eriksen and the injury-plagued Erik Lamela.

Lamela began his career at River Plate in his native Argentina, making 36 appearances for them over three seasons. His performances in his last season for River Plate attracted the attention of AS Roma, and a move to the Serie A was completed in 2011. He quickly adapted to life in Italy, and scored 21 goals in 67 appearances before moving to Tottenham.

Lamela began his first season at Tottenham poorly and was criticised for his attitude by manager Andre Villas-Boas. The attacking midfielder was provided with a fresh start by Mauricio Pochettino in his second season, and he rapidly became a mainstay in the Spurs team. He developed into a well-rounded player over the next two years and was instrumental in Tottenham's 2015-16 title campaign.

Unfortunately for Lamela, a hip injury last year has kept him out of the Spurs squad for while now. The winger has been edging closer to full fitness, but with the ascension of Dele Alli and the emergence of Son Heung-min, he may struggle to find a way back into the first team.