Top 5 players nobody cared for this summer

Football can be cruel at times. Players often rise from the meanest of circumstances to the dizzying heights of stardom. But that success can be fleeting. One moment you are the name on everyone’s lips, the next you know you have dissipated into nothingness without anyone battling an eye.Former Manchester City player Michael Johnson comes to mind. An outrageous talent coming through City’s youth system, Johnson was tipped to become a full England international. Unfortunately, after six years of tormenting injuries, alcohol and gambling, the midfielder hung up his boots at the age of 25. He now runs his own real-estate business.It could be because of a lack of form, it could be because of a career-shattering injury or it could just be the ramifications for exploring the sordid aspects of superstar lifestyle that footballers are often drawn into, there are more than one way a player can lose his way.Owen Hargreaves’ potentially illustrious Manchester United career was cut short because of his recurring injuries. Portugal’s Ricardo Quaresma once had the world at his feet. A lack of form and niggling injuries every now and then robbed him off a stellar career in the game. There are hundreds of thousands of such players splattered across football’s history.We take a look at five such players who could still do a decent job despite the fact that no club wanted them this summer.

#5 Gaston Ramirez

Ramirez’s performances for Bologna caught the eye of Southampton bosses who eventually signed him

Uruguayan international midfielder Gaston Ramirez joined Southampton in the summer of 2012 signing a four-year contract. Having started his career back home with Penarol, Ramirez was considered to be one of the most talented young players to come out of the country in recent years.

Aged just twenty and in his second season with Penarol, Ramirez scored six goals in 20 games to help the club win the Primera Division. A move to Europe soon beckoned and he signed for Italian club Bologna. His explosive performances for the Bolognese made him a target for a number of clubs before signing for Southampton.

A mediocre first year in the Premier League and a subsequent loan spell at fellow English club Hull City marked the end of Ramirez with manager Ronald Koeman having no considerable plan to involve him in the first team.

The Uruguayan, apparently on £70,000-a-week at St. Mary’s, has consistently failed to adapt to English football. A move away from England did not materialise this summer leaving Ramirez isolated and dejected.

#4 Yoann Gourcuff

Gourcuff suffered an astonishing twenty injuries at Lyon completing the full 90 minutes on just 23 occasions.

It has been five years since Yoann Gourcuff was presented to 15,000 jovial Lyon fans at the Stade Gerland after sealing a €22m move from Bordeaux, a record transfer between two French clubs. Once dubbed the heir to Zinedine Zidane successor for France, the 29-year-old Breton is now a free agent after the expiry of his contract with Lyon.

What happened to the once revered footballing prodigy? It is believed that Gourcuff suffered an astonishing twenty injuries at Lyon completing the full 90 minutes on just 23 occasions.

The former Bordeaux midfielder cost Lyon a grand total of €60m in transfer fees, wages and add-on bonuses in five years. A career marred with inconsistency and injuries, Gourcuff’s natural talent never really reached its full potential, and probably never will.

Now club-less, closing in on 30, Gourcuff has been using Bordeaux’s training facilities to stay in shape before the January transfer window opens next year.

#3 Emanuel Adebayor

No sign from god, no Aston Villa for Adebayor

Tottenham Hotspur’s forgotten striker Emanuel Adebayor is a godly man. In a sensational turn of events, the Togolese forward stopped himself from signing for Aston Villa after a significant lack of signs from the Almighty.

The former Arsenal striker is completely isolated and frozen out from the first team at White Hart Lane by manager Mauricio Pochettino. Forced to train with the club’s U21s, Adebayor has also been stripped off his squad number.

The towering striker completed a medical at Villa and even posed for pictures holding the club’s shirt but stunned the authorities by refusing to sign on the papers in the final stages of the deal.

Now seemingly devoid of a club that needs his services, Adebayor has a long wait ahead of him before the January transfer window opens next year.

Turkish outfit Galatasaray and Scottish Premiership holders Celtic are rumoured to be interested in the Togo international.

#2 Kevin-Prince Boateng

Talks with Sporting Lisbon broke down leaving Boateng without a club

Earlier in May this year, former AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng along with teammate Sydney Sam were indefinitely suspended by Bundesliga outfit Schalke 04 following a 2-0 loss against FC Koln.

Schalke’s sporting director Horst Heldt and manager Roberto di Matteo cited a “lack of mutual trust” as the reason for their suspension.

In all fairness, the suspension was probably inevitable for Boateng. The former Portsmouth and Tottenham player’s performances had been lethargic and his off the field activities were making unnecessary headlines in the papers.

The Ghana international was caught smoking a cigarette and drinking beer before a scheduled doping test and his attitude was causing discrepancies in dressing room harmony.

Portuguese outfit Sporting Lisbon made an effort to revive the troubled player’s career this summer and Boateng even made the journey to Lisbon to sit down for negotiations. But a statement from Sporting claimed that talks have broken down between the two parties leaving Boateng without a club to play for.

#1 Victor Valdes

Valdes has fallen out with his manager Louis van Gaal

Former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes signed for Manchester United in January this year after spending months with the club rehabilitating from a knee injury.

Having a keeper of Valdes’s calibre as mere back-up is not something many clubs can boast about. But it has not panned out as gloriously as some hoped it would. The Spaniard has fallen out with manager Louis van Gaal who publicly confirmed his decision to put Valdes on the transfer list after he refused to turn up for a reserve game.

Valdes was expected to move out this summer linking him with moves to Turkey and France, but n club came swooping down to relieve the 33-year-old from his Old Trafford nightmare.

The three-time UEFA Champions League winner has been named in United’s Premier League squad for this season but it is believed that the purpose of his inclusion is only to comply with the Premier League rules.

Valdes has not been assigned a squad number, neither is he in the Champions League squad.