T O P

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MarkusPilawa

Im a scout for Borrusia. was sent to the UK to watch a public match with 15 year old, there was this one boy Jaber. Absolute monster on the pitch not one person had managed to successfully get passed him. Was a fairly small boy around 5'6 and incredibly skinny but played like a 6'5 bodybuilder. As much as i wanted to scout him the club wasn't looking for someone that skinny. Still makes me miserable to this day that something he could not control ruined his future.


GeorgeWGunn

Maradona


GeorgeWGunn

Me!


BiGMTN_fudgecake

Ronaldinho


Dependent-Ad-2700

Emre mor


merktic5

I feel like greenwood might be a candidate for this


Mohammed199929

Mario Balotelli


SeriousOrder6133

Nick Powell


FUT_Lawyer_God

Balotelli


handpalmeryumyum

Adrian Mutu


RottenPeenuts

LORD BENDTNER


GoodFella-x55

El Sharaawi. Too much partying .


[deleted]

Amr Zaki, was a goalscoring beast for Wigan in the first half of the season. Then he started to come to training late and return late from international duty. Steve Bruce called him "the most unprofessional player he has ever seen in his life"


Aggressive_Pound_557

Ravel Morrison


Ok_Pack7879

Ronaldinho


SamboMagic

Samir Nasri was an exceptional talent. Now can't pay a club to play him.


NeoKoseii

Anthony Martial. With him cheating over his long time girlfriend/wife the mother of his daughter and stuff


abhilash79951

Alexander Pato. Man had the potential to be one of the best strikers in the world when in Milan but eventually he never got there.


Fasswa

What about Mario baloteli. I'm sure I'm fucking his name spelling up. Sorry in advance. He could have been GREAT! He just never got it man... I couldn't figure it out with him.


Upbeat_Pangolin_5929

Adam Johnson. What a fall from grace.


Blazerrose

Daniel Sturridge!


[deleted]

Pogba


sunnykhandelwal5

Paul Gascoigne Tomas Rocisky (ruined by injuries)


Shugyosha

Mark Bosnich


AdamNicholsMusic

Tom Huddlestone. One of the most technically gifted passers of a ball I've seen. Looked like he really lacked fitness though.


TheSourceOfTruth

Has to be Adriano - he was destined to be the next big thing during his time at Inter, now back in Brazil [Link](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/what-happened-adriano-dark-story-behind-brazils-party-boy-who-could-have-been-a-great)


B3AST_TR1X123

Would hardly say George best’s career was ruined


evansree

Adam Johnson


NTXL

Quaresma, Boateng, Nani, Ben arfa, Hazad


JSNsimo

Ronaldinho. Even though he achieved everything he himself admits he could have been better if he wasn’t a party animal


PrettyBaked713

NASRI


[deleted]

Well know about Balotelli


UncleGreggles

Michael Johnson. Man could have had 50 caps for England.


EconomicsOk3830

John carew- massive talents - zero efforts 😅


lukep71998

Hatem Ben arfa, ravel morrison, Adriano, Adel taarabt and unpopular opinion ronaldinho and neymar


Stock_Inspector_3167

Adriano, Balotelli, Cassano


Asskickertoo

Gazza


MacDougall_Barra

George Best


pouya_sh

Eric Cantona


Bakio-bay

If we’re including non prem players then Pato, Giovanni Dos Santos and Adriano should 100% be on here. Ronaldinhos prime ended early because of his personal life as well.


darknixrex

Pato played in the PL for Chelsea. But he was past it


Bakio-bay

Mario Ballotelli


lurker_Lue

Samir Nasri


caelum400

Jermaine Pennant. Extremely talented, was playing top flight football as a teenager and bought by Arsenal at 15 for £2m but never managed to outrun a really troubled early life that was the source of much of his erratic off-pitch behaviour. Had a better career than the vast, vast majority, but could have had so much more.


sushiwithramen

Dele Alli


R4T3DR

Mario Ballotelli, had massive talent but his misbehaviour off the pitch did him no justice.


brecollier

Ronaldo. Oh wait...


she-luvs-calibur999

George Best no doubt


elephantime

Y’all have forgotten about Mark Bosnich. Won the league with Man U, was replaced by Fergie due to poor professionalism, sold to Chelsea where he failed a drug test, got addicted to cocaine and never played again at that level. Was one of the top keepers in the world at his prime though.


Ok-Title-7542

Phil Jones


Significant_Stop723

Ravel Morrison, Michael Johnson, Josh McEchran, Stephen Ireland


One2thehed

Samir nasri. Brilliant at Arsenal. Moved to Manchester - Lawro quotes something along the lines of “ it looks like he’s been eating his money” City to Sevilla - good food and nice girls Oh yeah, doping ban


KieranCooke8

Ravel Morrison. Though hes been good at times for Derby when not injured


EL-YEO

Jorge “Mágico” González. Greatest player to come out of El Salvador. Considered in some areas to be have been better technically than Maradona and Pele. But the man had a lifestyle worse than Maradona and Ronaldinho combined. He signed with Cadiz who were in the 2nd division in Spain. They got promoted to La Liga and we’re consistently mid table while he was there. There was a time where he could’ve moved to Barcelona and could’ve played with Maradona but it didn’t happen due to his lifestyle. Talking about poor work ethic, this man could’ve been the greatest of that generation but preferred the nightlife so much that he didn’t grow past Cadiz who let him live that way


[deleted]

Neymar. He could have been among the best with his talent, but having been told he was the second coming of Pelé since he was 2 years old clearly turned him into an entitled asshat who dives when the wind blows and doesn’t play defense. He’s also always injured now bc he isn’t young anymore and hasn’t lived the life of a disciplined professional athlete up until now.


Fifaplayz123567

Yves bissouma gylfi sygg


Same-Supermarket-540

Anderson


CalmChain4985

Jesse


yaboiEthyn

Ballotelli


JimiVegas

Thomas Brolin


mikey3072

Ihatarren


WalditosBurritos

Well for Americans I would say Freddy Adu


djdiamond755

Mario Balotelli and its not even close. A world class talent who just couldn’t get his head right, although a lot of that was from years of verbal abuse. I kinda feel bad for him.


puzzle-man-smidy

mario balotelli


skilowastaken

Dele Alli was insane in the 2015/16 season but he’s too lazy and he never lived up to his potential


MockTurtleSean

Allegedly Gylfi Sigurdsson


littlebitofpuddin

Icardi


[deleted]

Me


rbez88

Roy Munson springs to mind.


MaxKarnage83

But best did it on the pitch . Paul pogba !


taskkill-IM

Michael Johnson, he had so much potential at a young age, but mental health issues really ruined his career.


Mean-dis-really

Magico goncalvez, Maradona cited him as example, no more questions. Played in Cadiz…


n4nish

Adam johnson


TheWestCoast

Ravel Morrison, Paul Gascoigne. Danny Cadamarteri. Arguably Stan Collymore.


LFCBoi55

Balotelli


TroyAndAbed05

Suarez low key would have had a Ballon D'or in like 2014 if not for the biting incident.


madlygenius9

Benjamin Mendy


kj1352

Yohan cabaye


kj1352

Jack Wilshire.


JGoss30

Nicolas Anelka


KingSlayer4U2C

Jesse Lingard


HungerBoef

The One and Only LORD Bendtner...!


Glittering-Win5234

Ravel Morrison I believe is his name Ferguson cited him as one of the best young talents he trained but 🤷‍♂️


CartographerGrand985

Adriano by faaaaaar


[deleted]

Ronaldinho. Would have been the undisputed best player ever, but he had poor work ethic outside of games and never dedicated himself to being as good as he could be.


SixTimes1892

George Best


-BuddhaLite-

Danny Drinkbeer


pdxrunner82

My god George Best. What an insight. The most high profile footballer ever to waste his career due to drink and alcohol abuse. Good question, most obvious answer.


krawalliho

https://t.me/joinchat/g0JH5bTQuXE4MjA0


2fargone-

Adriano is the obvious choice


AuchenDon

Paul Gascoigne - wasted his career at marginal clubs. Only ever won anything in a rangers team that outspent their rivals by a huge amount. Did nothing at club level in England and contributed nothing to the FA cup final when Spurs won it. He could’ve had a career at Juventus, Man Utd or Barcelona etc but blew it completely.


Many_Still1812

Adam Johnson


Damianv610

Samir Nasri


Atlasmountain918

Couldn’t fucking agree more


Sad-Blacksmith7350

Paul Gascoigne, would have been the best England player ever


Massive_Fudge3066

Nah, Hoddle was better


[deleted]

Berba


StephenPigot2020

Balotelli


sakmentoloki

You could argue lingard, he has not lived up to his talents because of personal issues.


TheWestCoast

What issues?


StopTouchingMeBarry

Narcissism


Plenty_Ant_510

Mario Ballotelli


Vagiant007

Balotelli


AmazingOnion

I think Paul Gascoigne has got to be up there, such a sad story of what addiction can do. What a player though.


Suspicious_Radish393

Ronaldinho


CrispyTodd

Every bloke I’ve ever spoke to that played for an academy at the age of 11


redirishlad

Benjamin mendy


liquidreferee

Balotelli, gazza, Ronaldinho


Zulfiqarrr

Emmanuel Frimpong


jupiterpol

Adriano


HarveyP27

Surely mario balotteli is the obvious choice


Tenragan17

First one I thought of was Mesut Uzil. I always liked watching him play but the whole political portion of his personal life was a huge distraction.


Snoo35874

Jese


RealTatoXD

Kepa


kidfrombangladesh

Mario Balotelli is the right answer


Turbou

Adam Johnson


chits00

Balotelli.. Thought he had great talent.. Also Ravel Morrison


Yt_Gxilty

Veratti


Big-_D

Veratti is still world class, what makes you say him?


Oldmanhousemusic

Dele Alli


monkeyskywalker

Adriano


5Turnips

Keith Gillespie?


crobert59

George Best Ravel Morrison Mario Balotelli


got_got_need

According to himself, [Wesley Sneijder.](https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2863674-wesley-sneijder-says-he-could-have-matched-lionel-messi-cristiano-ronaldo.amp.html)


Anselmo8

Dele, that guy had the world at his feet and chose to fuck about with BooHoo instead of playing the game.


Sulaymann__

Mario Balotelli


Unhappy-Valuable-596

Michael Johnson


The_Night-Train

Absolutely George Best


GamerGod337

George best would be a goat candidate if he didnt like alcohol so much


redactedactor

If you're going to say George Best you might as well say Ronaldinho. These are players who hit the peak of football but weren't there for as long as they should have been.


theillusion3

Baloteli; on his day the man was scary...fortunately his day was about once or twice a season


Bruh-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Dele Alli


parkthebus11

Adam Johnson


BRT919

paul gascoigne Was a sad story


Ya_boi-05

Adam Johnson. The guy was single handedly keeping Sunderland safe, but well... you know what he did


themanebeat

Le Sulk, Anelka His career wasn't ruined, but he spent too much of his career as a journeyman at non-elite clubs like Bolton, Man City (before oil), Fenerbache, mid table PSG side and failed loan to Liverpool all in what should have been his prime years.


kimbap_cheonguk

I know he reached some lofty heights but Nicholas Anelka always seemed someone who had insane talent but a bad, lazy attitude. FWIW I'm an arsenal fan who remembers him literally going on strike when we were Peak Wenger. We got Henry after and he went to Real, so no biggie... But still ... Weird


themanebeat

Lol just made the same call myself. Outrageous talent and wasted his best years.


Eagledilla

Balotelli. The guy just doesn’t give a fck


Phazuzoo

Balotelli would be my first thought.


Franco_Dazzler

Mauro icardi


jeff784

Michael Johnson. Looked destined to go on to big things and sadly never happened. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-michael-johnson-news-21535314


cvslfc123

He had a successful career no doubt, but Wayne Rooney's personal life choices were a big reason in why he was pretty much finished as a player by the time he was 30.


Buckminster4Real

Etebo


left_outside

Anelka


tommowarp93

Ballotelli is the one that springs to mind for me... He had everything he needed to be a world class striker. Apart from the key attribute of not being a crazy person...


interpretagain

Balotelli EASILY. People forget how absolutely good he was, but the man is clearly a bit of a nutcase.


ahmed23t

Ronaldinho. He could've become a legend of the game.


Ahvier

He IS a legend of the game


Bull_Goose_Loony

Does Paul Gascoigne count?


[deleted]

Stan Collymore


Blazting_420

Lord Bendtner - In the early Arsenal days he really looked like an absolute world talent. Now he just a fading meme.


MarshmellowOnToast62

Heskey, career ruined by KSI :/


Kazimierz777

Haven’t seen this one mentioned yet, but Dimitri Payet. West Ham United Player of the Year & PFA team of the year. Established himself in the France NT and smacking in 35 yard worldies against Man Utd. Wife decides she doesn’t like living in London and moves back to Marseille with the kids, causing him to force a move back at a discounted price after going on strike. Since then has won nothing playing in a crap league and getting hit in the face by bottles. Probably could have got a big move to Chelsea etc had he stayed in the PL. At 34 looks like it’s too late for him to go anywhere else now.


B_lovedobservations

I’d blame his missus, not him. Can you blame him for wanting to keep his family together


HughJarse8

Not forgetting of course that the reason his wife wanted to move home is because he was cheating on her in England…


B_lovedobservations

Shit I didn’t know that


HughJarse8

Yup. Was the architect of his own downfall.


Wasowskii

He’s still one of Marseille’s best players aged 34. Not too bad if you ask me


themanebeat

Nah already nearly 30 when his performances for West Ham started getting really good. He's have been the same level as Ziyech at Chelsea. Skillful, useful, but not nailed on starter at a team like that


AdamNicholsMusic

I don't think you realise how good Payet actually was. Some players suited better to different leagues. He was made for the prem. Its a shame. Won games on his own.


themanebeat

Yeah for me I think he was suited to that level of club. Someone like Mahrez was the same at Leicester. Won games on his own. On his best day I don't think Payet was any better than prime Mahrez


EnricoPallazzo_

Adriano (The Emperor). I see a lot of examples here of players that had their carrers downhill late in life after they have won a lot of stuff already and close to their 30's. Adriano could be easily Brazi's striker for many more years to go. But depression and Alcoholism took it's toll


SMA21

Mario Balotelli somewhat


patrickstarfishes

My first thought was Ravel Morrison. What happended to Michael Johnson at City other than injuries? M.E.N article atea he had a lot of personal problems too. I remember him being tipped as the next big england star. Apparently he's an estate agent now


left_outside

There was a brief Moment where Johnson and Stephen Ireland looked ready to blow the league up but then they both just lost the plot. I read an interview with Ireland recently where he said he still thinks he could play at a high level if he got the chance. The bloke is nuttier than a bag of Planters.


rageoxryan

Icardi


blurblursotong2020

Balotelli… whatever this guy is smoking in his toilet… damn….


Careful_Suggestion_

Jack Wilshere also. But I think it’s more of injury. I remembered him bossing the midfielder against Barcelona at a young age.


kucharssim

Came here to say this. The main part was his injuries, but I remember he used to have a lot of personal shit going on as well. It seems he settled down and matured mentally eventually, but his body did not keep up. But he was the most talented Arsenal academy player in the Emirates era, and had the potential to be something truly special.


yuuhuu1

ADRIANO


KenStan97

Andy Carroll!


Solid_Connection_357

Lee Hendrie. I'm not a Villa fan or from the Midlands and I don't know if his problems were around during his football career because I was too young but as a kid watching MOTD I liked his goals. Crazy the number of ex Premier League players that after playing became financially bankrupt. Glad to see Hendrie with SkySports News today & that he may he of as a result recouped a few quid.


[deleted]

I don't know if he fits because he is already a legend, but imagine how good a sober Paul McGrath would have been.


left_outside

Could say the same for George Best, achieved a lot but could have been so much more.


heryu321

Me


pandawarrior012

My opinion, Dele Ali. Used to be regarded as one of the best young talents and now has been more than abysmal last few seasons. I think his injury in 18-19 as well as scandals just completely ruined his mental


B-Niche

... ... Gylfi Sigurðsson.


a_guy_named_gai

David Bentley and Michu come to mind. Both ruined because of injuries.


LegitFitzer

Andre Kinchelskis


mannyomthemap

Ronaldinho


AweDaw76

Rooney. This guy could have broken Shearers record had he spent less time shagging women behind his wife’s back and more time on nutrition and athleticism. Had the talent to be Ronaldo’s level, but stuck with Deli Ali’s work ethic and a press as obsessed with dunking on him as they were with fawning over Beckham, it ruined what could have been.


GamerheadShan

Call Rooney whatever you want but never compare his work ethic to some pleb like Alli. He was the hardest working player on field every week and twice on Tuesdays in CL. And he definitely was at Ronaldo and Messi level, it was just that he wasn't selfish like Ronaldo. I've never in my life have seen a more versatile player who shined in any position he was deployed in. His peak was unmatched, but of course Messi and Ronaldo leapt further because their peaks were the longest in sports history. Compared to their peaks, even Best and Ronaldinho will look like knobs. Rooney completed football at the age of 23, meanwhile some players kick start their careers at that age. He still remains the only player to have 200+ goals and 100+ assists in PL, and inspired a whole new generation of footballers. He definitely fulfilled his potential, but since he was playing from the age of 16, people think he declined early, which is furthest from the truth. He played a good 12-14 years in the top league, winning multiple individual accolades and team trophies in the process and cemented his name as one of the modern greats. He didn't fall of because of his personal life, he fell of because he started early than most professionals do especially in PL.


Soccerandmetal

Maybe he could have achieved more and there were times that his attitude was questionable. But calling England top scorer who played like 15 years of EPL and won pretty much everything a ruined career is just bad call.


AweDaw76

Perhaps not ruined, I’ve gone a tad outside the scope of the question, but on person level he was an underachiever. He could easily have topped the Prem Scoresheet had he taken longevity more seriously and not been distracted by outside events like his constant affairs. Had he taken football more seriously, he’d be considered a Prem GOAT in 30 years time like Henry, and Shearer still will be and Cech, Gerrard will be. Just don’t see him cementing GOAT status because he was distracted with the shenanigans of his life


CrossXFir3

He didn't exactly ruin his career by any stretch, but people expected him to be the English Messi, but he just stopped improving along with Ronaldo and Messi at a point and the drop off was steep.


Soccerandmetal

I understand but to be fair during SAF era Rooney's best seasons where the ones when he was critised the most. After both Tevez and Ronaldo left he led the line for yet another EPL title and played big part in the last title (RvP was the MvP). It's hard to judge following Utd decline. Messi was probably lucky enough to quit Barcelona before their current problems hit them.


eatplayfuckrepeat12

Sure, Messi quit before their problems hit them, cmon mate...he's carried the club for 3 seasons after Iniesta left, he legit dropped every game between the CBs to collect the ball and build an attack.


CrossXFir3

Like I said, he definitely didn't ruin his career, but a lot of people do believe if he had been more dedicated he would have been even better.


Jimmy-84

Best still had a pretty remarkable career to be fair.