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The Premier League is the most popular football league in the world and it is very difficult to turn down its allure.
In January 2014, Greece striker, Konstantinos Mitroglou, had the opportunity to stay with Olympiacos and play Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Instead, he moved to Fulham who were battling relegation in the Premier League.
Mitroglou struggled to adapt to the demands of the Premier League and played just three games (without scoring) for the London club who were ultimately relegated at the end of the season.
The Greek international is one of many players who have failed to perform in the Premier League despite succeeding elsewhere. However, Mitroglou moved to Benfica after Fulham’s relegation and his stint in Portugal was quite successful.
Like Mitroglou, many famous Premier League flops have moved on and found success elsewhere. This includes some of the players who will be playing for the FIFA World Cup 2018 favourites like Germany, Spain, France, Brazil and Argentina.
#5 Iago Aspas
Liverpool signed Iago Aspas from Celta Vigo ahead of the 2013/14 season and the Spaniard enjoyed a strong preseason as Luis Suarez was absent from the team due to his participation in the Confederations Cup and Daniel Sturridge was still recovering from an injury.
However, Sturridge recovered from injury before the start of the Premier League season and later Suarez returned to the starting XI after completing his suspension for biting Branislav Ivanovic.
Suarez and Sturridge formed a devastating partnership scoring a combined total of 55 goals and as a result, Aspas was often left on the bench or was played out of position.
He scored his only competitive goal for Liverpool in an FA Cup match against Oldham Athletic in a match where he started as the striker. However, he was loaned out to Sevilla ahead of the 2014/15 season after making just 15 appearances for the Reds in all competitions.
Although Aspas won the Europa League with Sevilla, he was sparingly used at the club and was eventually sold to back to Celta Vigo.
Since moving to Celta in 2015, he has played 126 games for the club and scored 67 goals! His goal scoring exploits also won him the Zarra Trophy given to the highest scoring Spaniard in the La Liga in 2016/17 and 2017/18.
Such fine form warranted a national team call-up and he made his debut for La Furia Roja against England on November 15, 2016, as a substitute with his team trailing 2-0. Aspas scored Spain’s first goal of the night with a brilliant finish and helped the team salvage a draw. As of now, he has four goals in eight games for Spain and will be hoping to help his country lift a second World Cup.
#4 Florian Thauvin
Thuavin gained attention during the 2012-13 season when he scored 10 Ligue 1 goals for Bastia. This earned him a move to Marseille and after two seasons with the French giants, Newcastle United came calling.
His time with the Toons was disastrous as he played just 13 Premier League games and failed to find the back of the net. His only goal for the club came in a 4-1 win over Northampton Town in the League Cup where he also assisted the remaining three goals.
He spent the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons on loan at Marseille while Newcastle were relegated during his first season away on loan.
It was during the 2016/17 season that Thauvin recovered the form that once made him one of France’s biggest talent. He played all 38 league games for Marseille, scoring 15 goals and assisting 8 more.
He signed for the club permanently last summer and enjoyed the most prolific season of his career. The 25-year-old scored 25 goals and assisted 13 more in all competitions as Marseille finished 4th in the league and runners-up in the Europa League final.
He was called up to the national team for the first time in 2017 and has continued to be a regular member of the squad although he’s not a regular starter. Considering the talent in the French squad, being included in the French squad itself is a testament to his quality and improvement, especially when the likes of Anthony Martial has been left out of the World Cup squad.
#3 Federico Fazio
Fazio’s first club in Europe was Sevilla, whom he joined in 2007. He spent seven seasons at the club during which he played 192 games scoring 14 goals, won the Europa League twice and the Copa del Rey once. He was also club captain towards the end of his time with the La Liga club.
Despite his long association with the club, he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2014 after the club activated his release clause. His debut for the club couldn’t have gone any worse as he was shown a straight red card for denying compatriot Sergio Aguero a goal scoring chance in an eventual 1-4 defeat.
Less than 20 days after his Premier League debut, he met with the same fate in a Europa League game.
His made 31 appearances in all competitions in his debut season but did very little to endear himself to the fans. The following season, he made just one appearance for the club (in a league cup match) in the first half of the season before spending the second half of the season on loan at Sevilla.
Ahead of the 2016/17 season, he was sent out on loan again and this time the destination was AS Roma. At Roma, he played 48 games while on loan including 37 in the league as they finished second in the league with 87 points.
Roma signed him permanently ahead of the 2017/18 season and his excellent performance of the Serie A club eventually earned him a place in the Argentina squad for the World Cup where he is expected to start alongside Nicolas Otamendi.
#2 Paulinho
A move to China often ends the prospects of playing for the national team again but Paulinho used his stint in China to find his magic touch once again.
The Brazilian was one of the standout performers for his country at the 2013 Confederations Cup and Spurs signed him for a then club record fee. His first season with the club saw him play 37 games and score 8 goals but he was rather unconvincing.
The arrival of Mauricio Pochettino in the following season reduced Paulinho’s role in the team and in June 2015, he completed a move to Guangzhou Evergrande. His time in China was quite successful as he played 95 games scoring 28 goals and also won six major honours including the AFC Champions League and the Chinese Super League (twice).
He was also recalled to the Brazil team during this period and became a crucial member of the team’s midfield under Tite. He scored six goals for Brazil during the FIFA World Cup qualifying phase including a hat-trick against Uruguay in a 4-1 away victory.
In August 2017, he signed for Barcelona much to the surprise of football fans worldwide and his signing was not greeted well by fans of the club especially because the club spent €40 million to sign a 30-year-old!
However, he proved to be a brilliant acquisition for the club as he ended the season with 9 goals and 2 assists in 34 league games while helping the club win the domestic double.
The former Spurs flop will now be starting in the Brazil midfield in Russia as they hope to win their 6th World Cup title.
#1 Jerome Boateng
If you asked a football fan to name his or her top 5 defenders in the world at the moment, then I can blindly say that Jerome Boateng’s name would be a popular one.
The German international recently inferred that he is open to leaving Bayern Munich for new experiences and if that’s the case, then a host of European giants will be lining up for his signature.
Boateng joined Bayern Munich in 2011 and since then, he has won 14 honours with the club while playing a crucial role in the treble winning season. In addition, he was one of Germany’s most important players as they lifted the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and will be equally important as they try to defend the title in Russia this summer.
But before Boateng’s career took off, he had a brief stint at Manchester City. The German signed for the Citizens in 2010 from Hamburger but played just 24 games for the side in all competitions and just 16 in the Premier League. He ended his only season with the club by winning the FA Cup despite not being part of the matchday squad for the final.
