'Danny Welbeck Is the New Thierry Henry' and 10 Premature Comparisons
In the aftermath of his virtuoso hat-trick performance in the Champions League against Galatasaray, Danny Welbeck has been compared to Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.
It's a flattering comparison, but dubbing a player "the new X" is always a dangerous game, as they rarely live up to the legend they have been matched with.
With this in mind, here are 10 players whose comparisons to megastars didn't pan out as they may have hoped...
Franco Di Santo 'The New Maradona'
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The term "The New Maradona" is wheeled out so frequently in the press that virtually every Argentinean with some talent in his boots earns the title. B/R have produced an article on New Diegos and the term even has its own Wikipedia entry.
One player who earned the title was Franco Di Santo, who arrived at Chelsea in January 2008 with much fanfare.
After spells at Blackburn, Wigan and Werder Bremen—and with virtually no time in the national team—it seems the prophecy did not come to pass.
Bojan Krkic 'The New Messi'
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Much like Leo Messi, Bojan Krkic was a graduate of Barcelona's fabled Masia youth academy, whose rise was surrounded by hype.
After breaking Messi's record for being the youngest first-team debutant at Barca, the precocious forward soon found himself far below the man he was compared to in the team's pecking order.
Bojan has spent spells at Ajax, Roma and Milan, and at the age of just 24 he finds himself at Stoke.
Freddy Adu 'The New Pele'
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It's hard to think of any player in football history who was more overhyped than poor Freddy Adu.
At the age of 14, the diminutive forward became the youngest athlete to sign a professional contract in U.S. sports history when he was selected by DC United in the MLS SuperDraft. Ten years on, Adu hasn't exactly lived up to the weighty tag of being "The Next Pele."
After unsuccessful spells with Benfica and Monaco, Adu found himself out of contract—at the age of 25—in December and now plays in Serbia for FK Jagodina.
Scott Sinclair 'The New Thierry Henry'
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Welbeck isn't the only player to be compared to Monsieur Henry—Scott Sinclair was taking care of that himself five years ago.
In January 2009, while sizing up a loan spell at Birmingham, Sinclair declared that he wished to convert from a winger to a striker, effectively becoming the new Henry.
After only a handful of appearances for current Manchester City in the past few seasons—and little chance to shine as a striker—the comparison hasn't quite worked out.
Bruno Cheyrou 'The New Zidane'
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In October 2009, Gerard Houllier was probably trying to buoy Bruno Cheyrou's confidence by declaring him the Zinedine Zidane of Liverpool. Seriously.
The Reds duly shipped the Frenchman out on loan in 2004 and he has since played in Ligue 1 and Cyprus. Since 2012, Cheyrou has not had a club.
Ricardo Quaresma 'The New Figo'
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When he emerged at Sporting Lisbon and moved to Barcelona, Ricardo Quaresma was dubbed "the new Luis Figo" on account of his tenacity and skill on the wing.
However, Quaresma spent most of his career in the shadow of a certain other Portuguese megastar winger. As he moved to teams like Besiktas and Al Ahli Dubai, it seemed that Ricardo's promise to fit the Figo mould never came to pass.
Peter Marinello 'The New George Best'
7 of 10Scottish forward Peter Marinello was deemed such an exciting prospect when he moved from Hibernian to Arsenal in 1970 that he was dubbed "the new George Best" by the British press. His tendency to have fun in the bars and clubs certainly did nothing to harm the comparison.
However, his failure to regularly start for the Gunners meant he became a journeyman player across England and Scotland, rarely showing the genius of his Ulster equivalent.
Marinello retired as a relatively wealthy man, but went bankrupt through various failed business ventures.
Max Clayton 'The New Michael Owen'
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In October 2012, it was reported that Manchester United and Arsenal were battling for the signature of Crewe Alexandra youth product Max Clayton, hailed as "the next Michael Owen."
Neither team opted to take on his services, and he ended up having pre-season trials with Wolves and Sunderland this summer when he rejected a new contract. At 20 years old, he is now playing at Bolton.
Douglas Costa 'The New Ronaldinho'
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In 2010, Douglas Costa made the move from his childhood club Gremio to join the Brazilian contingent at Shakhtar Donetsk. He arrived in Europe under heavy comparisons to Ronaldinho.
By Douglas' current age of 24, Ronny had won the first of his World Player of the Year awards and was one season away from his Annus mirabilis. Douglas has been doing very well in the Ukraine, but the comparison doesn't quite hold up.
Kerlon 'The New Ronaldinho'
10 of 10Remember the name Kerlon? Around 2005, the Cruzeiro forward was a hot property because of his novel "seal dribble," which saw him get past opponents by continuously heading the ball. Like Douglas Costa, he was considered a new Ronaldinho.
There was talk of an £18m move to Manchester Utd during his peak, but he eventually ended up at Inter Milan—where he didn’t play a single game.
He then played a handful of games across several loan teams and then spent two seasons at Fujieda MYFC in Japan.
He was released in January and, according to Transfermarkt, is currently signed to Barbados side Weymouth Wales. He’s only 26.
