Transfers are a normal part of life for a footballer, and most times moving to a new club works out well for all parties involved. However, there’s always the risk of flopping or becoming the forgotten man.
In this list, we take a look at players who simply fell off the radar after making a big move. Not in the manner that Fernando Torres or Radamel Falcao fell off. Those strikers didn’t have the best time after making their moves, but they never fell out of the public eye, and their names were always on everyone’s lips.
The players in this list, though, almost completely disappeared, either due to injury problems, loss of form, or falling out of favour with the manager.
Let’s delve in and take a look.
#1 Christian Benteke
Christian Benteke, the new Crystal Palace striker is the most recent example, having signed for Liverpool from Aston Villa for £32.5m a year ago.
An absolute star at Villa Park, the robust Belgian scored 49 goals in 101 appearances for the Villans before departing for Anfield to play for Brendan Rodgers. Unfortunately - both for Rodgers and Benteke - Liverpool decided to axe the Northern Irish manager and later brought Jurgen Klopp on board.
Benteke immediately fell off the map, with Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi getting ahead of him in the pecking order. However, the forward still managed a decent output of 10 goals in 16 starts for the Merseyside club.
Alan Pardew came knocking this summer, offering Benteke a lifeline and taking him to Palace. The 25-year-old is expected to be the main man again, now that he’s made the switch to London.
Can he replicate the form he showed at Villa, though?
#2 Juan Sebastian Veron
Juan Sebastian Veron came to England bearing quite the reputation when he joined Manchester United in 2001 from Lazio for what, at the time, was a world-record fee of £28m.
Veron was regarded as the complete midfielder and had everything to succeed at United. In fact, you could say that he was the Paul Pogba of his era. Blessed with technical ability, vision and a wicked shot from distance, it’s a wonder why Veron wasn’t a hit at Old Trafford.
The pace of the English game seemed to intimidate him, and in the end, he just didn’t seem suited.
Despite wanting to stay at United and fight for his place, the player was allowed to speak to Chelsea and was convinced to make the £15m move by Claudio Ranieri. He started brightly at Stamford Bridge, but injuries limited his time there to just 15 appearances for the Blues.
He would spend the next two years on loan at Inter Milan, before returning home to Argentina to join his boyhood club Estudiantes.
#3 Mateja Kezman
Mateja Kezman was an absolute star at PSV Eindhoven, scoring 105 goals in 122 Eredivisie appearances for the Dutch outfit.
He signed for Chelsea in 2004, joining the Blues with loads of expectation. Yet, things didn’t go as planned for the prolific forward, who had won the Dutch Player of the Year Award prior to moving to London.
He would score just four times for the Blues, making 25 appearances before leaving for Atletico Madrid the next season. A knee injury hampered his stay in Spain, however, he would rediscover some form after joining Fenerbahce, albeit never returning to the heights of his career before his retirement in 2012.
#4 Andriy Shevchenko
Another failure of the Roman Abramovich regime, Andriy Shevchenko would enjoy a very poor spell at Chelsea. The Ukrainian striker was bought against the wishes of Jose Mourinho, and his career suffered for it.
Sheva came to Chelsea as one of the best forwards in Europe, having scored 175 goals in just over 300 appearances for AC Milan and winning the Balon d’Or two years prior.
He could only manage to register 22 goals in 77 appearances in two seasons at Chelsea, returning to Milan on loan thereafter. He was never able to hit top form again.
#5 Jari Litmanen
Jari Litmanen is still regarded as one of the best talents to ever come out of Europe.
But in spite of that, he could not prove his worth after joining Liverpool from Barcelona in 2001. He is also considered Finland’s best ever player and captained the national side from 1996-2008 in a career spanning from 1989-2010.
Litmanen was one of the top attacking midfielders of his generation and won 22 trophies over his career, including the Champions League in 1995.
After making the move to Liverpool, the attacker broke his wrist early in the season which forced him to miss the rest of the season. He also suffered with ankle problems which would keep him seldom used the following term.
He was sold after one and a half seasons at Anfield, having scored nine goals in 43 appearances.
#6 Jean-Pierre Papin
The Frenchman remains a legend, having scored close to 350 in just over 620 matches throughout his club career, and 30 goals in 54 outings for France.
Papin was also a five-time Ligue 1 top scorer and won the French top flight title four times with Marseille. He won the Champions League with AC Milan in 1994, as well as two Serie A titles.
The former forward remains the only player to win the Balon d’Or whilst playing for a French club, having won the accolade in 2001. He moved to Italy, and admittedly, did not have as grand a career as compatriot Michel Platini did at Juventus, but it was the switch to Bayern Munich that proved underwhelming.
He could only manage six goals in 40 appearances for the German giants, but would find form again following a move back to France.
#7 Lucio
Lucio was an absolute beast of a defender during his Bayern Munich and Inter Milan days, also providing a solid rock in the heart of Brazil’s defence.
The centre-back won 19 trophies over the course of his career, claiming league titles both in Germany and in Italy, as well as the Champions League.
Two years after winning the treble with Inter under Jose Mourinho, he would join Juventus, where he quickly fell from importance, thanks mostly to Juve’s strength at the back in Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli, and Leonardo Bonucci.
Lucio made just one league appearance for The Old Lady, before returning to Brazil to play for Sao Paulo and the Palmeiras.
