Inter Milan's Adriano Was Simply Unplayable Between 2004 And 2006

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a teammate of his at the Nerazzurri, rates 'The Emperor' incredibly highly and says he had everything in terms of attributes.

He told SPORTbible: "I played with great champions. I played with players that were already...wow. I played with players that I saw were a talent and became...wow, but the one I felt could do it longer, and he didn't do it, was Adriano when I was at Inter. He could shoot from every angle, nobody could tackle him, nobody could take the ball, he was a pure animal."

Persistent off the field problems and his unhealthy lifestyle culminated in a huge fall from grace for Adriano.

"Only I know how much I suffered," Adriano told R7 in Brazil.

"The death of my father left a huge hole. I felt alone and I isolated myself when he died. I was sad and depressed in Italy, and that was when I started to drink."

He does look happy in recent Instagram photos so here's hoping Adriano is enjoying his post-football life.