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It is not easy being a footballer at the elite level. Not only do they have to cope with the great pressure of expectations, but they also have to adjust to the different demands and cultures at different clubs.
There are a few players who have played for a single club throughout their careers, like Paolo Maldini, Ryan Giggs, Francesco Totti, and Alessandro Del Piero, but most footballers are not that fortunate.
Moreover, at times they are lured away by lucrative transfer deals. Professional footballers always have to take the financial aspect into consideration, and therefore it becomes very difficult for them to reject a big offer. However, a footballer is not always able to cope with the changing demands of a new club, and ends up performing terribly.
Here we discuss 3 such great footballers who were great at one club, but performed terribly after their transfer to a new club.
#1 Kaka (AC Milan and Real Madrid)
The Brazilian attacking midfielder was signed by AC Milan in 2003 as a 21 year old, and played there for 6 seasons. He was among the best footballers in the world during his prime, and also won the Ballon d’Or in 2007.
Kaka was part of a brilliant midfield also featuring Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, and Rui Costa. He also provided numerous assists to the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Filippo Inzaghi.
Kaka was a brilliant passer and a very good dribbler. He also had a decent shot on him. He won 1 Champions League and 1 Serie A title with Milan. However, his transfer to Real Madrid in 2009 turned out to be very disappointing, as he struggled to find form for the Spanish giants.
Kaka had difficulty in adjusting to a Madrid team under Jose Mourinho. New recruits like Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil also gave him stiff competition for a spot in the starting line-up, and finally Kaka left Real for Milan again in 2013. Maybe it would have been wise for him to stay at Milan in the first place.
#2 Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan and Chelsea)
The Ukrainian great was brilliant for a dominant Milan side from 1999 to 2006, and won 1 Champions League and 2 Serie A titles for them. Sheva, as he was popularly known, was one of the finest forwards in his prime, and scored goals with aplomb for Milan.
He also won the Ballon d’Or in 2004. In all, Shevchenko scored 175 goals in 322 matches for Milan, and will always be hailed as one of their greats.
However, he was lured by Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea after the 2006 World Cup, and could not cope with the pressure of the Premier League. Chelsea had forwards like Didier Drogba and Eidur Gudjohnsen in their line-up, and Sheva found it difficult to adjust himself to the playing style of Chelsea which was based upon a solid defence and a robust midfield.
He scored only 22 goals in 77 matches for them in 3 seasons, and left the club in 2009. He also failed to win any major silverware for them, and was actually loaned to Milan in the 2008-09 season.
All stats via transfermarkt
#3 Fernando Torres (Liverpool and Chelsea)
Torres was one of the leading scorers for Atletico Madrid in LaLiga for a few consecutive seasons, and was signed by Liverpool in 2007. He was arguably even better for the Reds, having players like Xabi Alonso, Dirk Kuyt, Luis Suarez, and Ryan Babel in their line-up.
Torres lit up the English league with his fast runs, little dodges inside the box, and opportunistic strikes. He scored 81 goals in 142 matches for Liverpool in 4 seasons, and also finished 3rd in Ballon d’Or 2008.
However, his transfer to Chelsea in 2011 proved to be utterly negative for him, as he struggled to find form under coaches like Rafael Benitez and Roberto Di Matteo. Benitez had managed Torres earlier at Liverpool, but failed to revive the magic with The Blues.
Didier Drogba was already a dominant force in the Chelsea attack, and Torres found it difficult to replace or combine with him. He played for Chelsea in 172 matches, and scored 45 goals only, before being loaned to Milan and Atletico Madrid. Torres moved to Atletico in 2016, and played there for a couple of seasons.
