5 Players Whose Careers Went Downhill After Leaving Liverpool
The career of path of many modern footballers will not always pan out the way they expected—just ask Georgi Kinkladze, the outrageously gifted midfielder whose 1998 move from Manchester City to Ajax saw his trajectory spiral rapidly downward—as one seemingly measured move could prove costly.
"I could have been Maradona and [manager Jan Wouters] wouldn't have changed the system to accommodate me," Kinkladze recalled of his time in Amsterdam, as relayed by Paul Johnson of the Guardian in 2013.
Kinkladze went on to play for Derby County, Anorthosis and Rubin Kazan before retiring in 2006—it was a modest career that belied his talent.
For Liverpool, a storied club whose current status as an aspiring top-level outfit is undermined by their successful history, many players have made the decision to leave the club only to see their career head downhill as a result.
Here are five players whose careers declined after leaving Liverpool over the last decade, kicking off with an academy star who is now languishing in the Championship.
Tom Ince
1 of 5
Liverpool were desperate to hold on to Tom Ince with his contract set to expire in the summer of 2011, but the prodigious winger's father had other ideas.
Former Reds director of football Damien Comolli explained the situation regarding Ince's bizarre move to Blackpool at the end of his deal with the Merseyside, speaking to talkSPORT (h/t This is Anfield) in 2013:
"One of the first things I did was meet him and his dad, and Paul [Ince] was concerned the style of play [under Roy Hodgson] was not suited to his son, who was a quick winger.
When Roy went I think we made four or five contract offers to Tom which he kept turning down...he didn’t feel it was the right place for him to stay.
The last offer would have made him the highest-earning player beneath the first team but to be fair to him I don’t think money was the issue.
We never released him. You don’t release a player like this, you can’t force him to stay. I am very pleased that he is doing well. If they buy him back, good for him and good for Liverpool.
"
When Comolli addressed the situation, Liverpool were thought to be mulling over a deal to re-sign Ince, who had impressed since his move to join Ian Holloway's Tangerines—and at this stage, the former Reds academy star looked to have made a wise decision to drop down to the Championship.
But with no return materialising, and Ince's post-Blackpool career so far taking in disappointing stops at Crystal Palace, Hull City and Nottingham Forest, his father's advice seems to have been misplaced.
Now restoring his reputation with Championship promotion favourites Derby, Ince will be hoping to resurrect his flagging fortunes.
Suso
2 of 5
Like Ince, Spanish midfielder Suso was one of the stars of Liverpool's youth setup, having impressed academy coaches following his move from Cadiz in 2010.
After spending two years honing his game at the club's Kirkby academy facility, Suso was promoted to the first team by new manager Brendan Rodgers in 2012, with the former Swansea City man keen to make the most of Liverpool's strong youth banks.
Shortly after his full debut in a Europa League clash with Young Boys, Suso signed a new contract with the Reds, as reported by the club's official website, and at this stage the playmaker looked primed for a bright future at Anfield.
But after a promising loan spell in La Liga with Almeria in 2013/14, Suso's prospects dwindled.
"My contract was set to expire in June and Liverpool's offers did not satisfy me, neither economically nor in a sporting sense," he told Spanish publication Marca (h/t the Mirror) in January, explaining his decision to leave the club at the end of his contract to join Serie A outfit AC Milan:
"I arrived very much as a boy and I have learned a lot. I have grown, but I have not noticed a lot of trust in me.
I wanted a change of scenery. And Milan offers me everything that I needed. It's a great [club], with an incredible history, but now it is not at its best.
My objective? To play as much as possible and to return Milan to the Champions League. It's where the club should be.
"
His ambition was admirable, but having made just six league appearances in 11 months with Milan at this stage, his objectives seem out of reach.
Both Suso's former and current clubs have moved on without him.
Ryan Babel
3 of 5
At 29, Ryan Babel is currently plying his trade for UAE Pro-League side Al Ain in what is a major drop-off from the lofty expectations that furnished his move from Ajax to Liverpool in 2007.
"He has all the potential to become the next Thierry Henry. The pace, movement, finishing, feel for the game—it's all there," Marco van Basten, then manager of the Dutch national team, said as Babel made the switch to Merseyside, as reported by the Mail's John Edwards.
"If he keeps developing and improving there is no saying what he might achieve in the game."
Disappointingly, despite a reasonable spell in Liverpool red, Babel failed to continue his development into what could have been a world-class forward; hampered by attitude issues, as evidenced regularly by his debatable Twitter feed, Babel betrayed his potential.
After leaving Liverpool for a season in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim in 2011, Babel rejoined Ajax the following campaign—only to play a bit-part role as Frank de Boer's side surged towards another Eredivisie title.
On the expiry of his contract with Ajax, Babel joined Turkish side Kasimpasa before his move to the United Arab Emirates.
For a player who was projected to reach the heights of one of the Premier League's greatest-ever forwards, this is a dismal reality for Babel, and his failure to perform at Liverpool kickstarted this downfall.
Yossi Benayoun
4 of 5
Over three seasons with Liverpool, Yossi Benayoun became a cult hero for the Anfield support, with his beguiling touch and deft creativity allowing him to shine in a number of roles in the Reds' attacking line.
He was never the leading man, but the Israeli proved the perfect support for the likes of Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres.
In his final season with the club, he made 45 appearances in all competitions, scoring nine goals and assisting on a further seven, providing invaluable experience to a side that was undergoing a truly tumultuous period under Rafa Benitez.
While few could argue with his decision to jump ship on the arrival of Hodgson, Benayoun's subsequent move to title challengers Chelsea was perhaps overly ambitious.
His final four seasons in the Premier League took in spells with four London clubs in Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham United and Queens Park Rangers, but Benayoun never settled into the key role that he had previously played at Liverpool—though he did receive a Europa League winners' medal with the Blues in 2013.
Benayoun has now returned to former club Maccabi Haifa, but the midfielder may well look back on his career and rue his departure from Liverpool.
Fernando Torres
5 of 5
Many have attempted to delve into the fractured psyche of Liverpool's former star striker, Fernando Torres, but few have captured the essence of his downward spiral.
When Torres moved from Atletico Madrid to Liverpool in 2007, for the princely sum of around £20 million, the Spaniard was deemed as a coup signing by Benitez—though Torres' comments on his arrival, as reported by BBC Sport, describing Liverpool as "one of the best, if not the best, club[s] in Europe" reflect the Reds' status in Europe at the time.
Benitez, looking to reinforce a side that had won the Champions League in 2005 and harboured very real ambitions of securing Premier League glory, shattered the club's transfer record to sign Torres.
From his first touch, it was easy to see why: Torres went on to score 81 goals in 142 appearances for the club.
Torres was adored by the Liverpool support, and his decision to join Chelsea in a remarkable £50 million deal in January of 2011 was roundly criticised on Merseyside—largely because the striker looked set to significantly boost a major rival.
But Torres' immediate decline at Stamford Bridge was astonishing, with a loss of pace and that supreme finisher's instinct sullying his progress in the capital.
An unsuccessful loan spell with Milan followed in 2014/15 before an emotional return to Atletico in 2015.
Torres, now 31, currently plays backup to Antoine Griezmann and Jackson Martinez in Madrid; at this stage in his career, a player of Torres' calibre should have collected significant honours as one of the world's greatest.
Statistics via Transfermarkt.co.uk.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
