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

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.