Players Who Left Big Clubs Too Soon

Many young players don't make it to the first team. They move to other clubs to play. Even good players are sometimes let go from academies when they are young.

Editor's Picks

Why the Champions League tells us nothing about the Premier League Ryan O'Hanlon

Revisiting ESPN's 39 U21 men's lists: Who flopped? Who should have been higher? Tor-Kristian Karlsen

It's hard to deal with teenagers. Each one is different. Players move to academies when they are young. Sometimes they move to find a place to play.

We often think about what could have been. We think, 'He played for them?'

Some clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool rarely let good young players go. But other clubs do. Let's look at the ones who got away.

ARSENAL

Arsenal has a good academy. They have promoted many players to the first team. Players like Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri are doing well.

However, they have let some players go. Serge Gnabry joined Arsenal at 16 but didn't play much. He did well at Bayern Munich.

Eze spent five years at Arsenal's academy. He was released at 13. He also got rejected by Fulham, Reading, and Millwall.

Eze played for Queens Park Rangers and then Crystal Palace. He did well and joined Arsenal again for £60 million.

Cole is a good English player. He started at Arsenal's academy. He played one game for Arsenal at 19 and then went to Bristol City.

Arsenal didn't get to see Cole's 187 Premier League goals.

ATLÉTICO MADRID

Atleti's academy is good at making central midfielders. Koke, Gabi, and Saúl Ñiguez are examples. Fernando Torres also came from there.

The best central midfielder they had left without a contract. This might not be their biggest mistake.

A midfielder spent six years at Atlético's academy. He was released at 16 for being too weak. He went to Villarreal and did well.

He returned to Atlético in 2018 for €25 million. He left after one season and won many titles with City.

Raúl is a great player from Real Madrid. He has the most appearances for the club.

Raúl almost didn't join Real Madrid. He was at Atlético from 1990 to 1992 but left when they closed the academy.

BARCELONA

La Masia is a famous academy. It produced players like Messi and Yamal. Some players left and did well elsewhere.

Some players left with little attention and became good later.

Barcelona got Icardi at 15. He spent three years at the academy but didn't play for the first team. He joined Sampdoria and did well.

Icardi played for Inter Milan and scored 124 goals. He then played for Paris Saint-Germain and Galatasaray.

Cucurella spent four years at La Masia. He played on loan and never returned. Jordi Alba was the first choice left-back.

There are rumors that Cucurella might return to Barcelona.

BAYERN MUNICH

It's hard to make it to the first team at Bayern. They have high standards. One player they might regret letting go is Hummels.

Hummels spent 11 years at Bayern's academy. He played one game for the first team and then joined Borussia Dortmund.

Hummels did well at Dortmund and later returned to Bayern for €35 million.

CHELSEA

Chelsea's academy is good. They produced players like Reece James and Mason Mount. Some players left and did well.

Olise spent seven years at Chelsea's academy. He left at 14 and joined Reading. He did well and joined Crystal Palace.

Rice spent seven years at Chelsea's academy. He was released at 14 and joined West Ham. He became the captain and won a trophy.

Lampard tried to sign Rice back to Chelsea. But Rice joined Arsenal for £100 million.

Musiala spent nine years at Chelsea's academy. He left at 16 and joined Bayern Munich.

Guéhi spent 12 years at Chelsea's academy. He joined Crystal Palace and became a starter.

MANCHESTER CITY

Many good players have come through City's academy. Some left and did well elsewhere.

Díaz spent most of his youth at Malaga. He joined City at 15 and did well. He left for Real Madrid for €15 million.

Frimpong spent nine years at City's academy. He never played for the first team and joined Celtic.

PSG

PSG's academy is getting better. But some players left and did well elsewhere.

Coman didn't get many chances at PSG. He left and joined Juventus. He later played for Bayern Munich.

Mendy was at PSG's academy for eight years. He joined Lyon and became a good left-back. Real Madrid signed him for €48 million.

REAL MADRID

Real Madrid's academy has produced good players. But some left and did well elsewhere.

Hakimi spent over a decade at Real Madrid's academy. He left for Inter Milan for €40 million.

Eto'o was discovered by Real Madrid at 15. But he didn't play much and left for Mallorca.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Spurs' academy helped them reach the 2019 Champions League final. But since then, no one has made the same jump.

Madueke spent four years at Spurs' academy. He left for PSV Eindhoven and did well. Chelsea signed him for £28.5 million.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMERS

4English does not own the rights to this content. All rights belong to the owner. 4English only uses this content to help users learn English via the app's features. Contact to request the removal of your content: contact@4englishapp.com.

Hörübung