Talents that burned out. Who hasn’t fulfilled their potential at all?

From time to time, the football world celebrates a young prodigy who is supposed to be a future icon. Sometimes he fulfils his potential, but sometimes the career of the celebrated teenager goes very wrong. Which talented footballers have not reached the peak of their powers?

When you say wasted talent, of course everyone thinks of Adriano, Robinho or Mario Balotelli. However, let’s take a look at the lesser known cases who also had huge potential.

Bojan Krkic – 31 years old, Kobe, Japan

He was supposed to be the next Messi. At 16, Bojan started to shine in Barcelona’s A-team, scoring 12 goals in his first season. But in the next three seasons, he failed to make it into the Culés starting line-up, so he left for AS Roma. After one season, he went on loan to AC Milan, and spent another season on loan at Ajax.

But that was the end of Bojan’s list of famous clubs. His career had only a downward trend. He signed for a few years with Stoke in England, where he played two and a half seasons, then went on loan. He tried to kick-start his career at Mainz and Alavés, but together he scored only 1 goal in these two engagements.

So in 2019 he left for MLS, where he played for Club de Foot Montreal. At the age of 31, he became a free agent and was without a commitment. In early August, he signed for Kobe of Japan, where he will play with Andrés Iniesta. However, he had the potential to play with the Spanish wizard at the height of his fame in Barcelona.

Hachim Mastour – 23 years old, uncommitted

Italian super talent with Moroccan roots. Mastour was already training with AC Milan’s A-team at the age of 15, and judging by his performances in youth, he was considered a future Ballon d’Or winner and one of the biggest talents in the world. He was supposed to make his mark with guest spells at Malaga and Zwolle, but he didn’t make it into adult football in either engagement.

Mastour is a great example that talent alone is not enough. Fame went to his head at the age of 16, he reportedly never put in much of a workout and only sinned on his undeniable talent.

He played for Reggina in the Italian third division, then for Carpi in Serie C. He played 10 games there last season and scored one goal. Now he’s out of contract.

Max Meyer – 25 years old, Fenerbahce

Max Meyer can’t be said to have had a bad career at all. Schalke, Crystal Palace, Cologne, now Fenerbahce. But the skilful central midfielder was much better than that, as he started playing for the then-hot Schalke side at the age of 17.

In his first full season he was part of the starting line-up of the club from Gelsenkirchen and scored 7 goals. He also played 9 games in the Champions League, where Schalke were knocked out in the eighth round by eventual winners Real Madrid. He was considered a huge talent in Germany, and was to be the driving force behind Die Mannschaft in the future.

But his performances at Schalke began to wane and after six seasons he left for Crystal Palace. There, he played 46 league games in two seasons and scored only 1 goal and 2 assists, a very poor record for a midfielder. He moved to Cologne, where he played 11 games last season, without a goal or an assist. In the summer he left as a free agent to Fenerbahce.

Adnan Januzaj – 26 years old, Real Sociedad

The Belgian footballer entered his professional career in style. He started for Manchester United in the 2013/14 season when he was 18 years old and scored 4 goals and added 3 assists in his first season. One of the Red Devils’ best players, he was set to be the next big star at Old Trafford.

However, his training morale was not very high, which was later reflected in his performances. In the 2014/15 season, he appeared in 18 games, but he didn’t score a goal or an assist and his performances were far from the ones he wowed United fans with.

So he tried to make a splash at Dortmund, but there he only appeared in 6 league games and didn’t impress. Subsequently, he went on loan to Sunderland, where he played 25 games in the Premier League and notched 3 assists. In 2017 he left for Real Sociedad on a transfer, the Spanish La Liga suited him quite well. In four seasons at San Sebastian, he racked up 16 goals and 18 assists, and has bounced back slightly.

Source: Livesport, Transfermarkt