If Championship/Football Manager has taught us anything, it's that if someone is labelled as a 'wonderkid' or 'one to watch' you should, 95% of the time, take it with a pinch of salt.
So many times a 17-year-old sensation has burst onto the scene with a flurry of fearless performances, giving opposition defences twisted blood, scoring a couple of winning goals and laying on an exquisite assist or two for good measure, prompting a massive contract renewal, more sensible squad number and a personalised chant on the terraces, only to be yesterday's news when they inevitably can't live up to the enormous pressure placed upon them by the hype merchants in the press and on social media.
It's with this in mind that Twitter user Mohamed Moallim has revisited a list of the '50 Most Exciting Teenage Footballers' that was published by World Soccer 10 years ago.
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The list, of course, does contain many players that have gone onto become world class, household names, such as Sergio Aguero, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Alexis Sanchez, Angel Di Maria, Juan Mata and Ivan Rakitic. But then there are those that never ended up living up to their early promise, for one reason or another.
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The likes of Micah Richards and Theo Walcott were once believed to be the future of English football, hence their inclusion on the list, but have both since stagnated, with injuries curtailing their progress. Richards is currently sidelined with a knee injury that has kept him out of action all year, while Walcott continues to flatter to deceive at Arsenal.
Elsewhere on the list, Stoke City's own Bojan Krkić is sitting pretty at number eight, having set Barcelona's youth ranks alight before taking in unsuccessful spells with Roma, Ajax, Milan and now Stoke City, where injuries have hindered the Spaniard's career, leading to further loan moves to Mainz and Alaves.
Theo Walcott had the world at his feet, in 2006. He did not have good taste in shirts, though. Image: PA
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Alexandre Pato, one of the many 'Next Big Things' in Brazilian football between Ronaldinho winding down and Neymar turning up, who randomly turned up at Chelsea last year, also makes the list. A decade on and the 28-year-old is currently tearing it up in the Chinese Super League for Tianjin Quanjian.
'The Next Big Thing' in Brazilian football currently plies his trade in the Chinese Super League. Image: PA
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Who could also forget Franco Di Santo? The teenage sensation shot to prominence at Chilean outfit Audax Italiano before gaining his big, breakthrough move to Chelsea, where he made 16 appearances in total before being sold to Blackburn Rovers after a solitary year at Stamford Bridge. The former Blues striker then took in spells with Wigan Athletic and Werder Bremen before his arrival at Schalke in 2015, where he has scored nine goals in 59 games.
Franco Di Santo got the number nine shirt at Chelsea, but not much else during his year at Stamford Bridge. Image: PA
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It would also be remiss of me to not mention the pioneer of the 'Seal Dribble' (or 'drible da foquinha' to give it it's proper name) Kerlon, who was constantly linked with big money moves to Europe after impressing at Cruizero with his head based ball juggling. The Brazilian trickster ended up never playing for Internazionale after moving to the San Siro in 2008, despite spending four years in Italy. Once again, injuries played a major part in the destruction of a once promising young career, with Kerlon then taking in spells with a number of clubs across the world, as his impressive Wikipedia history proves.
Credit: Wikipedia
I could continue running through the list, which also includes one time European Golden Boy Anderson, who lifted a Premier League and Champions League double in his first season with Manchester United but then became more famous for his weight fluctuations rather than his performances on the pitch.
Oh, and obviously, let's not overlook Marouane Fellaini's inclusion on this list, as well, as a pre-afro'd 19-year-old marauding around Standard Liege's midfield before Everton snapped him up a year later.
Who do you remember getting excited about on this list, only for that raw potential to never be realised?
Have your say in the comments section below and on our Facebook page.
(H/T Mohamed Moallim)
Topics: Football News, Football
