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A prospering career in football can only be derailed for one of two reasons: a significant and irredeemable dip in form or a nasty injury record. The beautiful game has lost countless gems to either of the aforementioned causes.
However, the most frustrating aspect of sustaining a long-term injury is that the concerned footballer is scarcely at fault in such a debacle. It is still possible to overturn a bad run of form. On the other hand, a serious injury can ruin the potential of a player in a matter of seconds.
There have been multiple incidents where a single injury ended a footballer's career
With the sensation that Erling Haaland is, it is quite probable that he inherited this talent from his father. Alf-Inge Haaland was a mainstay in Manchester City's midfield in the early 2000s. In a fateful derby, where Haaland's City clashed with Manchester United, the Norwegian received a crunching tackle from Roy Keane during the game.
In the wake of the knee injury sustained during the clash, Haaland was forced to call time on his playing career.
Legendary manager Brian Clough started off as a promising striker before taking his seat in the dugout. The Middlesbrough legend still holds the record of scoring 250 top-flight goals in the fewest number of games in England. However, his playing career was cut short after enduring a critical injury when he collided with goalkeeper Chris Harker in 1962.
Other notable names who lost their careers to a single injury include Dean Ashton, David Buust and Luc Nillis. With the introduction of stricter laws, there has been a significant decrease in the physical aspect of the game.
Yet inconsistent fitness records continue to haunt footballers. On that note, let's take a look at five of the most injury-prone footballers in the world right now:
#5 Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool)
Thiago managed to scrape through a torrid first season with Liverpool, which saw the Reds experience their worst injury crisis in recent history. Contrary to his reputation, the skilled central midfielder was one of the most used players by Jurgen Klopp. Despite his mid-season knee injury, Thiago gathered the ninth-most minutes in the Liverpool squad in his debut campaign.
However, such instances have been few and far between in the Spaniard's career. In his seven seasons with Bayern Munich, Thiago went through 24 separate fitness issues. He missed more than 25 games due to an injury on two occasions, spending an astonishing 417 days on the treatment table between August 2013 and March 2015.
Over the course of his professional career, Thiago has endured 28 injuries, with as many as four of them coming in the last two seasons.
At the time of his arrival, the €22m Liverpool splashed out to acquire Thiago seemed to be a bargain price. After all, he had just guided the Bayern team to a continental sextuple. However, with such a treacherous injury record, Thiago's signing could soon turn sour amongst the Liverpool faithful.
#4 Sergio Aguero (Barcelona)
Having recently signed with Barcelona, Sergio Aguero will have to wait till 17th October to make his official debut with the Blaugrana. Just weeks after putting pen-to-paper on a contract with his new club, Aguero was ruled out for 70 days due to a calf injury.
Manchester City's all-time top scorer spent most of the 2020-21 season on the treatment table because of an injury to his knee. As a result, the prolific Argentine could only muster a paltry 720 minutes in his last season with the Cityzens.
However, Aguero's prolonged fitness troubles are nothing new as his current detriment has taken his overall injury record to 24. Ronald Koeman would be wise not to rely on the mangled forward due to his inability to stay fit. Martin Braithwaite's scintillating start to the season, coupled with Aguero's seventh injury in two years, could signal doom for the Argentine's Barcelona career.
Also read: 8 players who fetched the biggest transfer profit for their clubs
#3 Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Barcelona's second-most expensive signing, Ousmane Dembele, is currently sidelined due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the Euros. As a result, the French playmaker will not step onto the field before October. To put things into account, this setback is the 12th injury that Dembele has endured since his transfer to Barcelona in 2017.
The 24-year-old was brought in by the Catalan giants as a direct replacement for PSG-bound Neymar. The Brazilian's supposed heir impressed on his league debut, providing the final assist in Barcelona's 5-0 thumping of Espanyol. However, Dembele was stretchered off in his second game, initiating a trend of hapless and persistent injuries.
Since then, the France international has been in and out of the team due to his inconsistent fitness. Including his ongoing injury, Dembele has suffered seven different impairments in the last two seasons alone. The fact that he is the sole player on this list under the age of 30, speaks volumes of his struggles to stay healthy.
#2 Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)
Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus can be regarded as one of the unluckiest footballers of this generation. Due to a ruptured ligament in 2014, the innovative playmaker was ruled out of Germany's World Cup squad. He had to watch from the sidelines as his comrades lifted the coveted trophy in his absence.
Reus has been a loyal servant to Dortmund ever since he signed with the German giants from cross-town rivals Borussia Monchengladbach in 2012. Over the next nine years, the 32-year-old has managed to rack up a decent total of 312 appearances.
This tally would've been a lot higher had he not succumbed to a whopping 43 injuries in his career. The talented wideman has been subject to numerous transfer rumors but stayed put in his native town of Dortmund.
With his most recent injury coming in April of this year, it is safe to say that Reus' time at the top is now over. Notably, Reus has suffered nine injuries in the last two seasons.
#1 Aaron Ramsey (Juventus)
The poster boy for injury-stricken players, Aaron Ramsey has endured a tumultuous time with his fitness record. Bought from Cardiff City as an 18-year-old in 2008, Ramsey went on to spend the next 11 years contracted to Arsenal. Following the expiration of his contract in 2019, the Wales international moved to Turin with Juventus.
A capable midfielder with an industrious work ethic, Ramsey showed flashes of his brilliance at Arsenal but could never reach his true potential. Constant struggles with hamstring and thigh problems have restricted Ramsey from truly exploding. His worst impairment came in the 2009-10 season when a tibia and fibula fracture ruled him out for 248 days.
Now with Juventus, his inexplicable injury record has continued to worsen. At the time of writing, Ramsey is sidelined due to a muscular injury. Disregarding fevers and infections, the 30-year-old midfielder has endured as many as 30 structural injuries in his career, with 10 of them coming in the past two years. Indeed, a perfect case of what could've been.
Also read: 5 full-backs with the best crossing ability in the world right now
