Where are they now? – Hasselbaink, Babayaro and Forssell

Footballers are fickle in some ways, usually because the spotlight is so short. Average career of a professional footballer lasts just under 15 years, which is hardly enough to satiate the football in them. Over the years, we have seen talents come and go; some caught our attention, most didn’t. But all of them put their head in to constructing a framework where they could live off football. Here are three such players, with hardly anything in common, except for the fact that they represented Chelsea around the same time. Let’s take a look at their coordinates today.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

A lethal striker in his heydays, Hasselbaink was quite the package. He was physically adept to push through defenses and equally agile to pull off acrobatics in and around the 6 yards. He spent a major part of his career in London, playing 177 games for the Blues, scoring 87 times. He was top scorer for Chelsea in three out of the four years that he spent there, despite Adrian Mutu and Hernan Crespo arriving at the club. He eventually made his way to Middleborough on a bosman, where he spent the next two seasons, taking them to the final of the UEFA Cup, where they bowed out to Sevilla.

Currently, at 41 years of age, the former Dutch international is in charge of Royal Antwerp FC, a Belgian football club. He was announced as the man at the helm just recently, and he is working towards his UEFA ‘B’ and ‘A’ licences. He still maintains ties with Chelsea, imparting a few gems at the clubs under-16 academy.

Celestine Babayaro

Named after Pope Clestine V, Babayaro was signed as a teenager from Anderlecht back in April 1997. A left back by choice, he played over 200 games in under 8 seasons. He holds the record for being the youngest player to play in the UEFA Champions League and is also, infamously, the youngest player to get a red card in UEFA Champions League, at the age of 16 years and 86 days.

After Mourinho took over at the Blues, Wayne Bridge established himself as the first choice, and Babayaro could put together just four starts. He eventually parted ways and headed to Newcastle.

Popular for his backflip celebrations, the Nigerian was quite a spectacle. He also got himself in to trouble when he slapped Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt in the face, and was handed a retrospective three match ban. At another occasion, he was informed of his brother’s demise due to tuberculosis, but he still chose to play the next day, earning the praise of fans and pundits.

His move to LA Galaxy was a short one, and he only started a friendly. He was disappointed at the facilities given to him, like economy class travel and shared accommodations, which didn’t meet his idea of a lavish club that he considered Galaxy to be. He was asked to leave soon after, having played no competitive games for the outfit. Babayaro retired from football in 2010, and was eventually declared bankrupt in 2011.

Mikael Forssell

The popular Finnish forward is an extremely talented individual. Picked up by the Blues at the age of 17, he looked certain to make his name in English football. But finding his way in to the first team was close to impossible, with names like Gianfranco Zola, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnson in the mix.

During his time with the London club, from 1998 to 2005, he spent close to 4 years on loan with Crystal Palace, Birmingham City and Borussia Mönchengladbach. In 2005, he made his move to Birmingham City permanent, hopeful to help the outfit avoid relegation. His first hattrick came in 2008, against Tottenham, where he netted the ‘Perfect hat-trick’, when he scored a goal with his left foot, one his right foot and the third with a header. In 2008, he left for Hannover 96, where, on his pre-season debut, he netted 10 goals including a eight-minute hat-trick against amateurs FC Boffzen. The game finished at 23–0.

After his three year contract wrapped up, he moved to Leeds United for a one year contract, which wasn’t renewed in the following year. Currently, aged 32, Forssell plays for Finland’s extremely successful club Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (or HJK), which is based in the capital Helsinki.