#4 – Micah Richards
When longtime England right-back Gary Neville began to slow down just after the 2006 World Cup, it seemed that fans of the Three Lions didn’t have a lot to worry about, as a new, young superstar was already emerging from the blue half of Manchester to take his place. His name was Micah Richards, and when he made his England debut in November 2006 at the age of 18, he became the youngest defender to ever pull on the shirt.
Richards had in fact only played 28 professional games for Manchester City before his England debut, but he looked fantastic in most of them – a terrifying blend of pace and power on the right-hand side of the pitch along with a level of awareness that seemed to belie his young age. But really, he never progressed like he should’ve done despite performing relatively well for City for the following seasons – even being nominated for Player of the Year during their Premier League title-winning campaign of 2011/12.
By the following season Richards found himself forced out of the first team at City by Pablo Zabaleta, and essentially, his career as a top-flight footballer was over. From 2012/13 to the end of 2014/15 he made just 38 first-team appearances, including a fruitless loan to Fiorentina. Richards now plays in the Championship for Aston Villa and hasn’t come close to living up to the hype that he came onto the scene with over a decade ago.