Changing Positions: 5 football players whose careers thrived after changing playing position

Seeing players change their preferred playing position is no new sight in football. Players and managers continue to experiment with playing roles and trying new innovations in positions and styles. Multiple players at all levels have undertaken positional changes, for a myriad of reasons, to varied levels of success.

For every successful Gianluca Zambrotta-like switch, which redefined the fullback role for generations to come, there exists a calamitous Steven Caulker-like switch. Why Jurgen Klopp played the center-back as a striker is something only he can answer.

Leaving aside the position changes that did not go as planned, here we take a look at active players thriving in their changed positions, so much so that most people have already forgotten about their previous playing roles.

1. Sergio Ramos

Ramos at the 2010 World Cup for Spain, where he played right back

The most famous player on this list, Sergio Ramos carved a spot for himself in the center of defense for Real Madrid and Spain, and will be looking to continue the trend at Paris St. Germain. While fairly common knowledge amongst La Liga fans, followers of other leagues might not know/remember that this central defending player started off his career playing right back for Sevilla.

He switched to the center of defense for his initial seasons at Real Madrid after signing in 2005. But the arrival of Pepe and Christoph Metzelder during the 2007-08 season pushed him to the right of the defense once again. Ramos played every minute of Spain’s victorious 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign as a right back. The Castrol Performance Index rated him as the highest rated player at the tournament.

It was at the beginning of the 2009-10 season where he fully transitioned to center back, pairing up with either Raul Albiol or Ezequiel Garay, following a serious injury to Pepe. As we all know now, Ramos would go on to become a defensive mainstay for club and country and give the world of football a career full of iconic moments. Ramos makes a strong case to be heralded as one of the best central defenders of all time.

2. Alphonso Davies

Davies, one of Bayern Munich's star defenders, started off on the wing.

The jet-heeled player, who held multiple age records in the USL (United Soccer League), including the youngest to sign a contract and the youngest to score, sped to the scene with 2 impressive seasons in the MLS with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. A nimble left winger, who in addition to his express pace also has great dribbling and crossing ability, Alphonso Davies naturally attracted interest from across the pond.

Bayern Munich got Davies’ signature on the dotted line in 2018, paying what was then a record fee for the MLS. Davies featured sporadically in his first season, with Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry ahead in the pecking order. His first appearance was as a substitute for Coman.

It was at the beginning of the 2019-20 season that coach Niko Kovac made a decision that would change the course of Davies’ career. With injuries ruling out Niklas Sule and Lucas Hernandez, Kovac preferred to play usual left back David Alaba in the center of defense and subsequently had Davies fill in at left back. He took to that role like a duck to water, dropping top tier performances as Bayern won the treble in a pandemic hit season. Davies was one of the best players for Bayern during their iconic 8-2 annihilation of Barcelona.

He earned praise from pundits and had players and fans raving about him, with many proclaiming him to be one of the best left backs of this generation. Davies finished third in the 2020 Golden Boy standings, something which wouldn’t have been possible had he not found a niche for himself in the left back spot

3. Michail Antonio

West Ham's main striker Antonio, who till a couple of years ago wasn't even a striker

Rejecting the chance to turn out for Tottenham Hotspur as a youth player, Michail Antonio developed as a lanky right winger at non-league side Tooting & Mitcham United. He then had spells at Reading, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest. The big English Premier League moment arrived in 2015, when West Ham stumped up £7 million to secure his services. Starting off in his preferred right-wing position, Antonio gave a good account of himself in his first season, convincing the Hammers to write up a more lucrative contract.

However, he started the 2016-17 season as a right back and looked out of sorts, giving away a penalty in the first game itself. Slaven Bilic persisted with playing Antonio as a fullback, on the right as well as left, only occasionally letting him play on the wings. Antonio also featured as a midfield player during this period.

This spawned a petition from West Ham fans, who indirectly got their wishes heard when Manuel Pellegrini replaced Bilic and deployed Antonio as a striker, which is where his evolution into a central player began. The plan didn’t seem to work out perfectly until David Moyes showed up, tweaked the system and made Antonio a classic center forward rather than an out-and-out striker.

More than 150 games, and over five different positions in all sections of the field later, Michail Antonio found his groove. He has gone on to surpass Paolo Di Canio as the leading scorer for West Ham and make himself a modern-day Hammers legend.

4. Oleksandr Zinchenko

Zinchenko has become a fan favorite utility player, mainly playing left back

Eyeballs were raised when big-spending Manchester City, who usually deal only with established stars or wunderkinds, handed over £1.7mn to Russian side FC Ufa in 2016 for a teenage attacking midfielder. Oleksandr Zinchenko was signed and immediately sent on a loan spell to PSV, where he was punted down to Jong PSV, the reserve team, following some unremarkable showings for the first team. This only strengthened the doubts surrounding the player, and rumors of his transfer being a PR move started to fly around.

Fortunes slightly changed in the latter part of 2017, when Zinchenko was given a few opportunities here and there to feature in the otherwise star-studded midfield of Manchester City. The defining moment, a choice Pep Guardiola was forced into due to injuries to Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph, came soon after. By the time the 2017-18 season came to an end and the 2018-19 season started, Zinchenko had cemented the switch to the left back spot, forcing Delph to move to Everton.

With constant injuries to Benjamin Mendy, constant loan travel and the subsequent transfer of Angelino, and right back Danilo’s inability to fill in convincingly, Zinchenko made the left back spot his own. He endeared himself to the team and the fans with his consistent performances. All the while he's still playing in attacking midfield for his country, Ukraine.

Joao Cancelo’s arrival, and his ability to play well as a makeshift left back in recent times saw Zinchenko’s playing time significantly reduced but the player has made his identity at Manchester City as a no nonsense left back.

5. Marcos Llorente

Marcos Llorente is now a key attacking player for Atletico Madrid

Failure to break into the legendary trio of Casemiro, Modric and Kroos led Marcos Llorente to take a step not many players can dare to. He signed with his parent club’s city rivals, Atletico Madrid in June 2019 as a replacement for the outgoing Rodri. The first few months were nothing special, with Llorente doing an ordinary, unspectacular job as a defensive midfielder.

The idea of playing Llorente as an attacking player was sowed in Diego Simeone’s mind when, in February 2020, Llorente scored playing from the right of a midfield four. This daring move bore fruit when Llorente announced himself, or rather his ‘new’ self, to the world during Atletico Madrid’s iconic 3-2 victory over Liverpool at Anfield. Llorente, playing as an attacking midfielder, scored 2 extra time goals to condemn Liverpool to a heartbreaking loss.

No longer was he the unremarkable card magnet of a defensive midfielder, but now played as an attacking midfielder, and quite often even as a supporting striker. Marcos Llorente was the goalscoring player in a team that had stars like Luis Suarez and Joao Felix on its payroll. His new role fit him like a glove and benefited the team as a whole, which was evident as they managed to hold off the big two in La Liga and win the league title for the 2020-21 season, with Marcos Llorente as one of the driving forces.

Not to forget, he played right back for Spain at the Euros 2021, and has filled in there even for Atletico when need be.