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Presently, there are four teenagers that have been the subject of a transfer with sa fee of more than €50m involved. French sensation Kylian Mbappe unsurprisingly tops the list with his transfer from Monaco to PSG commanding a gigantic sum of €180m. He is closely followed by Joao Felix at €126m and Matthijs de Ligt at €85.5m. These signings prove that there is no shortage of suitors who are willing to fork out a fortune to acquire players of immense potential and talent. Nevertheless, this is not a common occurrence.
A plethora of players spend their 20s, the most suited time period for development, at clubs below their pedigree. Failure to attain a deserving transfer can be traced back to multiple reasons, ranging from poor negotiating by the parent club to being frozen out of a team. Subsequently, players are left hanging out to dry while interested teams move on to greener pastures.
Some players who got their transfers eventually
Even though such stories exist few and far between, certain footballers do go onto achieve their 'dream moves' ultimately. The most recent instance in this narrative is Rodrigo De Paul's €35m transfer to Atletico Madrid. After five inspiring but lengthy years at Udinese, De Paul finally earned his move to a 'big' club at 27 years of age.
Another perfect example would be Chelsea's acquisition of Edouard Mendy to replace Kepa Arrizabalaga between the sticks in 2020. Playing in the second tier of French football, just three years back, Mendy kept his head down and continued to hustle. Ultimately, all his hard work paid off as the Senegalese shot-stopper lifted the Champions League with the Blues last season.
Here we take a look at five abandoned stars who are still searching for their fairytale endings.
#5 Nabil Fekir (Real Betis)
Nabil Fekir was a highly rated playmaker during his time at Lyon. His fine fettle between 2016 and 2018 saw him produce 57 goal involvements in just 89 games for the French outfit. The fact that he played as an attacking midfielder in the center of the field makes his output even more impressive.
This blistering run of form attracted a swarm of top flight clubs, of which Liverpool turned out to be the most tenacious. The emphatic dribbler managed to turn a lot of heads at Anfield with his incredible creative yield. It was a well known fact in 2018, that the Reds were looking for a Coutinho-replacement, having sold the Brazilian to Barcelona earlier that year. With a €60m bid, everything seemed wrapped up for both parties.
However, in the final hour, things went south and the transfer was called off. In a recent interview with L'Equipe, Fekir broke his silence on the topic:
"You want the truth? Even I don’t know, I promise you! I did my medical and then [Liverpool] decided not to sign me. At some point they wanted to have me believe it was because of my knee but an excuse needed to be found."
The France international was transferred to Real Betis for a cut-price rate of €19.75m with an additional €10m in add ons.
#4 Iñaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao)
At just 24 years of age in 2019, Iñaki Williams decided to put pen to paper on a massive, nine-year deal with Athletic Bilbao with a release clause set at €135m. This agreement successfully diminished the possibility of any potential transfer in the future, putting off a hoard of Premier League clubs that were interested in his signature.
One could argue that Williams himself wasn't interested in any transfer dealings, having extended his contract thrice between 2016 and 2019. Nevertheless, links connecting him with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool still surface from time to time. The versatile forward can easily play on either wings or as a second striker with uniform efficiency, a trait that makes him a much more elusive target.
Even though the Spaniard has been subject to numerous transfer bids, at 27 years of age, his future seems to be set at the Basque club.
#3 Julian Draxler (PSG)
Having impressed at Schalke and subsequently Wolfsburg, Julian Draxler earned a €42m transfer to PSG in 2017. Acting as Kevin de Bruyne's replacement at the Volkswagen Arena, Draxler's excellent vision and immaculate creative abilities prompted the Parisians to bring him to the French capital.
However, things haven't gone as planned for the German playmaker. Having unprecedented technical skills in one-on-one situations, Draxler was converted into a winger to fit him into PSG's system, in spite of the known fact that he performed at his best in a central attacking role. He now finds himself behind 33-year-old Angel Di Maria and former Getafe winger Pablo Sarabia in the pecking order.
Draxler was the youngest player to appear for Schalke and the fourth youngest in Bundesliga's history, when he made his professional debut, aged just 17. Instead of enhancing his generational talent, the transfer to PSG has seemed to stall his career. At 27 years of age, no notable transfer rumors have been linked with Draxler.
#2 Andrea Belotti (Torino)
Appearing in all but one game in Italy's run to the final of the Euros, Andrea Belotti still managed to come home with zero direct contributions to the 13 goals scored by the Azzurri in the tournament. The power striker had little to no impact on Italy's second European triumph.
Belotti has been a Torino player for all but three years of his professional career. Ever since signing up for Il Toro in 2015, the Calcinate-born forward has been a key player in the side. Even though Belotti has managed double digits with respect to goals in each of his six seasons with Torino, there have been apparent shortcomings to his game. A proper out-and-out striker, the 27-year-old Italian has always been prolific for his team but often fails to drag them out of a crisis situation.
Known for his athleticism, Belotti was a transfer target for both Chelsea and United in 2018. A fee close to €100m was slapped on the forward but no transfer came to being. Three years after this debacle, Belotti currently has a market value equal to just 32% of that amount.
#1 Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
The man who inspired these types of lists, Wilfried Zaha, has been associated with a transfer away from the Selhurst Park ever since he signed a five-year contract extension with Crystal Palace in 2017. Zaha's career has taken a monumental U-turn after he left Manchester United to rejoin his boyhood club.
On the back of a 50-game season in the Championship where Zaha contributed 20 goal involvements, United spent no time snapping him up in 2013. However, differences with manager David Moyes meant that the Ivorian would spend his time at Old Trafford on the fringes. He returned to Crystal Palace a year later.
A permanent transfer after a season-long loan was sanctioned and Zaha became an instant hit on his return. The 28-year-old playmaker was instrumental in his side's run to the FA Cup final in 2016, which they eventually lost to his former employer, United. However, his electric performances won him the Crystal Palace Player of the Year award that season.
Zaha hasn't looked back ever since. Apart from a few dips in form, the former England international remained consistent throughout. Reportedly, Arsenal had a bid of €46.5m rejected by the Eagles in 2019. As a result, the transfer of Zaha from Palace to the Emirates could not materialize and the dribbling maestro still remains at his childhood club, six years after rejoining them.
