Top 5 injury plagued superstars including Arsenal and Chelsea stars

Some of the most talented players in world football are constantly injured, but their reputation is still enough to keep them at the highest level.

5. Holger Badstuber

On his day, the Bayern Munich defender is unquestionably one of the best defenders in world football. His injuries got so bad at Bayern that they had to scout a player to stand in when he is out, and that came in the form of Manchester City’s Jerome Boateng back in 2011. Badstuber was looking to finally get himself back on track this season after missing out on the majority of last with a cruciate ligament tear, only to suffer the same injury again in pre-season to be ruled out until March 2014. Still only 24, there is still hope for the Stuttgart youth product, and if his performances are good enough for Bayern in the closing stages of the season, we may see him in Brazil after all.

4. Alexandre Pato

Former AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato has pace to burn, brilliant dribbling ability and razor sharp finishing. Sadly, he’s hardly ever on the pitch to put them to good use. In 2009 he was AC Milan’s most talked about player with his performances in Serie A and in the Champions League, while in 2012 he left the club as Milan CEO Adriano Galliani decided that he was no longer worth the huge wage he was commanding, and he was allowed to join Corinthians for a fraction of his potential worth. Still only 24 years old, there is still time for him to save his career.

3. Michael Essien

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien might not have had a plethora of injuries throughout his career, but what he does have is very significant injuries. When he gets injured, he gets injured for a serious length of time, and it’s probably the reason why Essien never quite made the jump into the class of elite midfielders. Six months for a cruciate ligament in 2009. Then another month injured later that year. Six months off in 2010 for meniscal damage in his knee. Six months off again in 2011 for another cruciate ligament. A very unique talent he may be, but you can only assume that his time at Chelsea is running out.

2. Ibrahim Afellay

Dutch 27-year-old Ibrahim Afellay might not seem like he’s a guy who’s struggled with injuries a great deal throughout his career, but the reality is that he’s spend a great deal of time away from the starting team at either PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona or Schalke. Since just July 2011 alone, Afellay has spent time on the sidelines for muscular injuries for two months, a cruciate ligament injury for seven months and further muscle injuries for two months, and then another four months in recovery from those muscular injuries. They just aren’t going away for Afellay, who is seriously talented with the ball at his feet. We can only hope his career won’t be too badly affected by injuries like the others on this list.

1. Abou Diaby

Every time Abou Diaby takes the field, you end up hearing reports about just how good and promising he could be if he didn’t get injured and could stay healthy. The problem is, that almost every time Diaby takes the field, he leaves the field injured. Eleven injury issues in the past three years is not what you’d call promising, especially given he’s out until Christmas with a cruciate ligament injury. Diaby is a very good midfielder with a unique style of mixing physical prowess with trickery and exquisite passing. It seems unfair that he is still given a chance at Arsenal while other players like Eduardo and Gervinho were let go, but it seems that Wenger really sees something in the France international.