10 Players with the Most Wasted Potential in Football History [Ranked]

‘Hard work will always overcome natural talent when natural talent does not work hard enough.’ Those are the words of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson. And the Scot is right. You could have all the promise in the work, but if you don’t do your utmost to hone those skills, or if you get unlucky with injuries, that talent will amount to nothing.

It is always hard to predict who the next biggest star in football will be. Inevitably, there will be those who don’t quite reach the heights expected of them. Yet, for these 10 players, the fact that their careers didn’t pan out as well as they could’ve and perhaps should’ve done will remain among the biggest ‘what ifs’ in the sport.

10 Royston Drenthe

The Dutch winger was once at Real Madrid

If there was a story to sum up Royston Drenthe’s career, it was one that Tim Howard told after spending time with the Dutchman at Everton. The winger had come up through the ranks at Real Madrid at a time when Raul and Roberto Carlos were also around. However, a troublesome mentality ruined his career, as Howard pointed out:

9 Freddy Adu

The American was tipped to be the next Pele

If things had gone the way they were supposed to for Freddy Adu, he could’ve been leading the United States out at their home World Cup in 2026 as part of his career swansong at 37. In 2004, the teenager broke the record for youngest-ever MLS player, leading to the bold comparison to Pele.

After a failed trial at Manchester United, Adu would make the move to Europe when he joined Portuguese giants Benfica, but he never reached the lofty expectations. Arguably, this isn’t a case of failed potential. Perhaps the ceiling was set too high for the young American.

8 Jack Wilshere

Injuries impacted the Englishman’s career

Before Bukayo Saka was Arsenal’s starboy, there was Jack Wilshere. The midfielder made a name for himself as he dominated a prime Barcelona midfield in the Champions League at just 19 years old. While he would go on to have a respectable career for both club and country, it could’ve been even better.

As a youngster, Wilshere suffered an injury which he later revealed surgeons expected to prevent him from walking properly again, let alone play football at a high level. Setback after setback took its toll on the midfielder, who would become one of the most injury-prone players in the world. Now he works as a youth team coach at the Emirates, aged just 32.

7 Antonio Cassano

The Italian’s playboy lifestyle got the better of him

Being a professional footballer opens up a lot of possibilities that, to the average Joe, would never come about. The allure of this was too much for Italian international, Antonio Cassano. At Real Madrid, Cassano had high expectations to achieve. Competing with the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gonzalo Higuain, there were high hopes that the former Roma youngster would be the future of the football club.

Instead, the playboy lifestyle took over. The forward was notorious for getting involved in several different relationships and struggled with his diet so much that he was handed several fines for being overweight. In the end, the 42-year-old finished his career floundering at midtable Serie A clubs.

6 Adrian Mutu

The striker was banned for drug use

Romanian striker Adrian Mutu joined Chelsea from Parma in 2003 for £17 million, bringing high expectations due to his strong form in Serie A. He made an immediate impact, scoring four goals in his first three Premier League games. However, his performance declined, managing only six more goals in 35 appearances.

Mutu’s time at Stamford Bridge ended in scandal in 2004 when he tested positive for cocaine. As a result, the club terminated his contract, marking a swift and dramatic downfall in what had been a promising career. While he would find some form back in Italy, he would eventually be hit with another doping ban.

5 Adel Taarabt

QPR unearthed a star who shone brightly for a split second

The epitome of ‘the streets will never forget‘. The unlikely combination of Neil Warnock and Adel Taarabt was one that QPR fans will forever cherish, as so rarely has a talent like the Moroccan shone at Loftus Road. Having struggled at Tottenham, the creative force was capable of just about anything with the ball at his feet, but Warnock appeared to be the only manager who had only luck in getting through to him.

Aside from his time in London, there’s not much to shout about when it comes to Taarabt. A failed spell at AC Milan was where he could’ve been an iconic figure given his skillset, but in recent years, he had to settle into a deep-lying playmaker role at Benfica. He is currently in the UAE, where he is, unsurprisingly, making it look easy. Had things gone the way they looked like they could’ve, we may have been seeing the 35-year-old in the same light as tricksters such as Ronaldinho.

4 Dele Alli

Alli has been open about his struggles

It has become apparent in recent years that Dele Alli‘s fall from grace was not all of his own doing. The midfielder was incredibly brave in opening up about his childhood and the issues that have plagued him ever since then. He may never return to the player he once was. But what a player he was.

With the attitude of a player who came up through the football league and the skill of someone who could dazzle on any stage, the fearlessness that Alli showed in making even the greatest of defenders look silly is why he was so admired in his youth. While it didn’t amount to anything in terms of silverware, it most certainly created plenty of memories that Spurs and England fans of that era will cherish.

3 Mario Balotelli

It was always him

“I could write a book of 200 pages of my two years at Inter with Mario. But the book would not be a drama, it would be a comedy.” That’s what Jose Mourinho said about Mario Balotelliin 2014. However, some of the Italian’s other coaches may feel differently. Physically and technically, very few possessed what the formidable striker did. Mentally, Balotelli was not capable of being a professional.

The former Manchester City star was more concerned about silly antics off the pitch rather than consistency on it. Rather than becoming one of the best players in the world, he instead became one of the most controversial. And yet he still managed to win the Premier League and Champions League in his career. It could’ve been so much more.

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2 Ravel Morrison

The creative midfielder was tipped to be better than Paul Pogba

Ravel Morrison was part of an FA Youth Cup-winning team that boasted the likes of Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard. But for everyone’s money, he was the star of the show. Sir Alex Ferguson once pulled Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney aside to watch the teenager train and told them that he was better than those two England internationals when they were Morrison’s age.

All signs pointed towards success. But just like with Balotelli, the Jamaican star was not able to behave like a professional. As such, he managed just three senior games for Manchester United, all in the League Cup. Now in his early thirties, Morrison turns out for a second-division team in the UAE.

1 Adriano

The heir to Ronaldo Nazario’s throne. Adriano had every aspect of the great Brazilian’s game at his disposal. Skillful. Lightning fast. Strong as an ox with a shotgun for feet. Everything was pointing towards the Inter Milan striker being the very best in the world. Then, disaster struck.

The death of his father when he was just 22 years old sent him into a depressive spiral that the forward simply could not recover from. Alcohol and issues with weight management took control and as quickly as Adriano had climbed the mountain to the top, he was tumbling straight back down it.

Former Inter captain Javier Zanetti looks back on his former teammate’s decline with regret, describing it as ‘the biggest defeat of his career.’ That is how highly thought of this man was. A true enigma of a superstar, who should’ve been in the same category as the very best his country has ever had to offer.

Statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 05-10-24.