10 football superstars that were rejected as youngsters

#8 Michel Platini

Before the golden Messi-Ronaldo era, Platini was only the second player, after the fabled Johan Cruyff, to amass 3 Ballon d'Ors. David Squires writes in his book 'The Illustrated History of Football: Hall of Fame' that the French prodigy was rejected as a youngster by Metz. As reported, Platini seemingly fainted during his trial and Metz ignored the chance to sign him.

Later, the Frenchman found his Ithaka in Nancy, where his father worked as a director. The rest is history. Platini shone with Saint-Etienne and, of course, Juventus and is widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of football.

#7 Ruud Gullit

Ruud Gullit of AC Milan races to intercept the ball

After spending his first years as a professional player at HFC Haarlem, Gullit had a trial at Arsenal in 1982. However, then-manager Terry Neil decided against his signing for £200,000 labeling the player 'lazy and undisciplined'.

Fortunately for us and unfortunately for Arsenal, history unfolded in a completely different way. Gullit excelled during his spell at Eindhoven before moving to AC Milan forming one of the best ever football tridents alongside Frank Rijkaard and Marco Van Basten. He conquered everything with the Rossoneri while claiming the Ballon d'Or in 1987.

#6 Kylian Mbappe

Liverpool v Paris Saint-Germain - UEFA Champions League Group C

It is impossible to think of a reason for a club to have rejected the player who is now considered as the most promising player in the world. Yet, Chelsea found one.

Back in 2012, per reports, at the age of 13, Mbappe was on a trial with Chelsea but the Blues decided against investing on his talents. Daniel Boga, a former Chelsea chief scout, claimed that the reason behind the decision was that Mbappe was regarded as talented but not a hard-worker, a relentless spirit in attack but a void one in defense.

Today, Mbappe is one of the best players in the world having scored 58 goals. He is just 19 years old.