5 of football’s greatest late bloomers

Few would argue that the 1990s was a watershed year for youngsters in football, courtesy of Manchester United’s iconic Class of 92 – who not only put Alan Hansen’s ‘You can’t win anything with kids’ remark to shame but also won the league and cup double in that historic season.

Needless to say, United’s triumph convinced clubs to pour huge sums of money into youth development, and now there’s a new kid with massive potential in the spotlight every single day. However, while there’s a new young star born every minute, there have been instances where players way past their supposed ‘shelf life’ unexpectedly burst onto the scene and became legends in their own right with their on-field heroics.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at 5 of football’s greatest late bloomers:

#5 Miroslav Klose

No list of football’s greatest late bloomers can ever be complete without including this legendary German striker on the list. Klose began his professional career at the age of 20 with FC Homburg (yes, not Hamburg), but started showing his prominence only by the age 24. His goal scoring exploits with FC Kaiserslautern was enough to convince German coach Rudi Voller to select him for the 2002 World Cup, and the rest…as they say…is history.

The German slammed in 5 goals for Germany at the 2002 edition and was lethal in front of the net in the following World Cups, with his efforts eventually leading him to lift the biggest prize in football in 2014 while also making him the top scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals. The mild-mannered German - who is his country's all-time top scorer - is now an icon for the ages and undoubtedly the greatest late bloomer of all time. Poetic!

#4 Jamie Vardy

Rightly recognised as one of football’s true fairytales, the story of Jamie Vardy is a testament to the fact that if you relentlessly pursue your dreams and refuse to ever give in to failure, the sky will eventually be the limit for you.

After being released by Sheffield Wednesday, Vardy earned a contract at Stockbridge Park Steels, which was then at the seventh tier of English football, pulling in just £30-a-week while also working at a medical spirits producing factory on the side. Vardy’s time in the lower leagues continued with F.C Halifax and Fleetwood Town before finally being signed by then-Championship side Leicester for his goalscoring exploits and eventually helped them reach the Premier League.

The Englishman initially struggled to adapt to the tough demands of the League in his debut year, but then came the 2015-16 season which would change his and Leicester’s fortunes forever. The goals just wouldn’t stop coming from Vardy, whose 24 strikes eventually fired Leicester to the title, earning him numerous personal awards as well as a place on the England team, whom he went on to represent at Euro 2016, in the process.

All this at the age of 29! Vardy’s story, which is one for the history books, is still being written, with plenty of chapters to follow in the years to come.

#3 Ian Wright

Ian Wright has gone down in Arsenal folklore as one of their greatest ever players as well as one of the Premier League’s most lethal strikers, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the Englishman. After unsuccessful trials at Southend United and Brighton, Wright was forced to play for several non-league teams which led him to consider turning his back on football for good. However, a spell in jail due to Wright’s failure to pay fines for driving without tax or insurance led him to have a reckoning.

A tearful Wright, who was completely broke and whose wife had just given birth to their first child, vowed from the confines of his jail cell to do everything in his power to succeed as a footballer. During his short spell at Greenwich Borough, Wright was spotted by a scout from Crystal Palace, whose then manager Steve Coppell invited him for a trial.

Wright soon signed a professional contract with the Selhurst Park outfit, realising his ambition of turning professional. And once Wright started scoring for Palace, he never stopped, which eventually earned him a move to Arsenal where he won numerous trophies.

#2 Luca Toni

With his good looks given as much acclaim as his striking abilities, Toni was the poster boy of football for many during his heyday. However, he too had his fair share of troubles when he just started out, and holds the distinction of playing for 16 different football clubs in his lengthy career.

After cutting his teeth at Modena, Toni moved to various clubs in the Italian lower leagues before joining Serie B side Palermo at the age of 26, where he finally displayed the prolific form that he would be associated with for the rest of his career. His time at Palermo, where he hit 51 goals in 83 appearances, led him to Fiorentina and eventually Bayern Munich, which is where he played some of his best football, scoring 58 goals in 89 appearances, leading Munich to the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal titles in the process.

Toni was first called up for his country at the age of 27, and won the World Cup with Italy less than two years later, which was the ultimate pay off for a late but fruitful career.

#1 Antonio Di Natale

Di Natale spent 12 incredible years with Udinese, and is now considered a club legend, but failed to display the spark that made him so lethal in front of the goal during his younger days. Instead, Di Natale turned out to be like finely fermented wine that only got better with age.

The Italian began his career with Empoli at the age of 17, but only managed to make his Serie B debut six years later. Di Natale’s consistent but unspectacular performances helped Empoli reach Serie A, giving the 25-year-old his first taste of top-flight football in the process.

After two seasons in Serie A with Empoli, Di Natale made the move to Udinese, where he initially had a slow start, but once the goals started coming, they never stopped, with Di Natale finally reaching his peak at 31. The Italian won numerous personal allocates during his time at Udinese, including a place on the Serie A Team of the Year for three consecutive years, before hanging up his boots in 2016.

Edited by Amit Mishra