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A professional footballer's life starts at a very tender age. Intense training regimes, dietary regulations and unwavering focus are all factors that help him become the player that he truly wants to be.
Coaches tend to read a player's game by analyzing his strengths and working out a plan to get the best out of him by deploying him in a particular position. More often than not, the coaches get it spot on and the player flourishes.
However, over time and owing to several external factors - ranging from a teammate's injury, lack of squad depth, age or brilliance of the player - a footballer could be asked to play in a different position on the pitch.
The transition involves a grueling learning process and only a select few come away with success. On that note, let's take a look at 5 top, top players who have changed positions successfully in recent times.
#5 Max Meyer
A remodeled Max Meyer was great news for Schalke up until the time he fell out with the club this season. Under the tutelage of Domenico Tedesco, Max Meyer has shifted to a deeper role in midfield and he has been quite a revelation in his new position.
Meyer used to work around creating that final pass which would leave defenders for dead but now, he controls the tempo of the game from deep and has proven to be quite capable of doing that and much more.
Tedesco's revolution at Schalke is starting to bear fruit and Meyer is one of the players to have shown evident signs of the same.
Meyer had this to say about his new role,
"I hadn’t played in [my current] position previously as I always had more of an offensive role. I’m playing more defensively now and have to win more tackles as a result, but that’s exactly what I’ve been working on [and] it’s been working out quite well."
Meyer's work rate is what enables him to do such a good job in midfield. He runs and runs and he covers the length of the pitch in the same way the best defensive midfielders in the world go about their jobs.
Max Meyer is excellent at tackling and his ball distribution skills are just as impressive. He has a pass completion rate of 89% in the Bundesliga.
Meyer is definitely a player who has taken to his new position like a fish to water.
#4 Joshua Kimmich
Joshua Kimmich's quality can be best measured by the fact that he opened the scoring for Bayern in both legs of the semi-final tie against Real Madrid. He did that while playing at right-back.
You wouldn't be wrong if you thought that Kimmich is one of the world's best right backs. He could even be the very best. However, the 23-year-old wasn't always a fullback. In fact, a couple of years ago, he wasn't even close to being one.
Bayern prefer inverted wingers and they use them to create width on the pitch. Philipp Lahm had been performing those duties for the Bavarians for a very long time. But the time to hang up his boots was fast approaching and Bayern needed to find a worthy replacement.
First of all, replacing Lahm is a herculean task. But Kimmich, who was playing as a defensive midfielder and flourishing in that position, was identified as a good replacement. And that was down to his impressive crossing abilities.
He has 10 assists in the Bundesliga so far and those are stats that even creative midfielders will be envious of. He has a further 3 assists and 4 goals in the UEFA Champions League.
The numbers are insane. It would be safe to say that Kimmich has shifted positions successfully.
#3 Dries Mertens
Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri has had his regrets over shifting Mertens' position to that of a central striker's from a winger's. Sarri regrets that he didn't make that call earlier owing to the sheer numbers on display after Mertens took charge of the goalscoring duties for Napoli.
He made the switch at the start of the 2016/17 campaign and has not looked back since. Mertens, who is 31 right now, was surely losing the pace that was required to operate down the flank. He has, in fact, now gone on to revive his career by shifting to the centre and taking up the striker's role.
From 41 appearances (across all competitions) this season, the diminutive Belgian has scored 21 goals and 9 assists. Mertens has played a pivotal role in helping Napoli mount a serious title challenge against Juventus this season.
He will also be one of Belgium's main men as they head to Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo used to be a menacing presence down the left flank for Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United. He kicked on from their and bettered his success down the same flank in his early days at Real Madrid.
However, at 33 years of age, Ronaldo is not as fast as he used to be. But instead of bowing out, he has now shifted his focus to being prolific in front of goal and has become Real Madrid's best striker.
Though his position has changed, Ronaldo's commitment, focus and intent have stayed intact and he has been immense for Real Madrid during the second half of this season.
Ronaldo's superior aerial ability makes him nearly impossible to mark. He has evolved into a fox in the box and showcased his excellence in a striker's role with that magnificent overhead kick against Juventus in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie.
Ronaldo might even be the best striker in the world right now. In the UEFA Champions League, where he breaks goalscoring records for fun, he has scored 15 goals in 12 matches and has provided 3 assists.
In the La Liga, he has scored 25 goals and has garnered 5 assists. Those are some highly impressive numbers and it wouldn't be far from the truth if you say that Ronaldo has even made himself better by shifting from a wide left role to the centre of the box.
#1 Lionel Messi
At the start of the season, the football world had collectively decided that Barcelona's time was up. Their midfield generals were in the twilight of their careers. Their supposed future star Neymar Jr. had just made a record-breaking move to PSG and Lionel Messi was left alone up ahead with a Luis Suarez who was growing blunter by the day.
The fact that they were going to have a new manager, Ernesto Valverde, didn't help either. But Valverde is about to finish a dream debut season where his team has already won the league and is looking to end the season without a defeat.
Once again, it is Lionel Messi who is at the center of it all. It took a while for Luis Suarez to come to life this season and during those early days, it was Messi who carried the team on his shoulders. He did that while starting games more centrally as opposed to operating on the right wing.
Messi loves to cut in from the right side and score some peaches but this season, in a false 9 role, he has perfected the art of scoring and creating. From 35 appearances in the La Liga, Messi has scored a staggering 34 goals and assisted 12.
In the UEFA Champions League, where Barcelona slipped up on one decisive night to crash out against Roma, Lionel Messi scored 6 goals and provided 2 assists. He has also scored 4 goals in the Copa del Rey.
Messi has so easily transitioned from the right winger forward's role to the central forward/false 9 role and has simply gone from being the best in the world at one position to being the best in the world at another. And Barcelona could not be more grateful for it.
