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The number of years that go into the making of a professional footballer's career is immense. The number of hours put in on the training pitch to learn the nuances and finer details of the position that they play is an integral part of footballers' lives.
Given that, it is only natural that it is difficult for a footballer to change positions midway through their career.
In the past, a few have mastered a change in role. Bastian Schweinsteiger, for example, began as a flashy right-winger, before finally maturing into a deep-lying central midfielder for Bayern Munich and Germany.
The likes of Javier Mascherano, Steven Gerrard, and Vincent Kompany all made switches to their positions on the pitch to eventually become top-class players.
In this piece, we take a look at five currently active footballers who have made the switch in positions successfully.
#5 Alphonso Davies
Alphonso Davies smelled an opening at left-back at Bayern Munich, and under Hansi Flick in the 2019-20 season, he took that opportunity with both hands.
The young Canadian came to Bayern after having made his name as a left winger. However, opportunities were limited in a side that already had the likes of Serge Gnabry, Franck Ribery and Kingsley Coman.
Bayern were forced to make a move to shift David Alaba to centre-back, which is when they needed a left-back, with Lucas Hernandez and Niklas Sule both out injured at that time.
Under Flick, Davies has been given a simple ultimatum - to cause havoc in the opposition's defence with his pace.
Bayern's approach and their dominance of most games they play means that Davies anyway takes up the positions of a left winger, despite playing at left-back.
As it turned out, the Canadian was an integral part of the treble-winning Bayern Munich side last season.
While plenty was spoken of his attacking abilities, including a sensational assist in Bayern's 8-2 thumping of Barcelona last season, his recovery pace also means that he is a defensive asset for a team that plays with a high defensive line.
#4 David Alaba
Alaba has always been known as a versatile player. For a few years now, he has played as a left-back for Bayern Munich, while also playing in central midfield for the Austrian national team.
However, an injury crisis at Bayern Munich last season meant that Alaba had to further adapt to a new position. He did so with ease, when Hansi Flick paired him with Jerome Boateng at the heart of the Bayern Munich defence.
Alaba is tall enough, reads the game well, and is comfortable with the ball at his feet. So, on face value, it is easy to say that the Austrian does possess the qualities required to really make a name for himself in the centre-back position.
Immediately, he made himself a fixture in that role, with the likes of Sule now having returned from their injuries.
Again, with the high line that Bayern always employ, Alaba's pace is a serious asset, when he recovers and comes back to win balls that are played in behind the defence.
#3 Dani Alves
Dani Alves, during his stints at Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain had made himself a name as one of the best right-backs to have played the game.
The most decorated player in the sport, in terms of trophies, Alves joined Brazilian club Sao Paulo in 2019, and was given the no.10 shirt.
And no, this was not like Arsenal giving William Gallas the no.10 shirt despite him being a centre-back.
Dani Alves actually reinvented himself to play in an attacking midfield role for the Brazilian club, and is showing no signs of stopping soon.
However, the Brazilian veteran is no stranger to moving out of his position. He's even kept goal in his career, when he went in between the sticks for PSG in a game against Sochaux
#2 Gareth Bale
Bale was a burgeoning left-back at the Southampton academy, before he joined Tottenham Hotspur. He had a stop-start career to his Spurs career as well, and never really nailed down a spot in the team as a left-back.
Bale was lurking around the fringes of the first-team, when Harry Redknapp decided to use the Welshman's qualities in an advanced role, where he absolutely flourished, and eventually became a world-class player.
In fact, in 2012-2013 season, Bale was adjudged the PFA Player of the Year for an outstanding season with Spurs, that eventually earned him his move to Real Madrid.
Eventually, things did turn sour for the Welshman at Real, but he did have a career filled with iconic moments for Los Blancos.
A brace in a UEFA Champions League final to complete a threepeat, that iconic goal against Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey final - Bale did produce his fair share of electric moments for Real Madrid fans to remember.
#1 Sergio Ramos
Even as late as the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Ramos was a right-back for Spain. However, what he has developed into after that is beyond even the wildest imagination.
For the adventurous full-back from then to develop into a leader, and solid rock at the heart of the Real Madrid defence, has been monumental progress from Ramos.
Real Madrid feel their captain's absence when he has been missing, which is telling of the impact that he does have on them when he is playing.
Ramos captained Real Madrid to three straight UEFA Champions League titles, and has been one of the greatest contributors to the club's recent success under Zinedine Zidane - in a role that he might possibly not have imagined when he made the move to the Bernabeu from Sevilla.
