World Football: 20 Young Soccer Stars Who Turned out to Be Complete Busts

Clubs take on new youth recruits to train each year. A few in each batch are labelled with "potential."

In some cases, like Wayne Rooney, they quickly rise to stardom.

But in other cases, they never hit the heady heights that were expected, and they fall from grace too quickly for anyone to notice.

This article contains 20 bright young soccer players who had the potential but never fulfilled it.

You'll notice patterns in why these players never made it. Could this be something for clubs to address in the future?

Enjoy the show!

Luke Moore

Aston Villa have a very good academy set up. They've brought through the likes of Darius Vassell, Craig Gardner, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Gary Cahill.

The academy also produced Luke Moore, a teenage sensation who looked all set to romp the big stage. He was prolific in youth competitions, and Aston Villa fans were eager to see him progress.

Unfortunately, he made less than 100 appearances for the club, and his scoring record, around one in six, was poor.

He was loaned to Championship side West Brom in 2008 and then made the deal permanent. He's now at Swansea City, a Premier League club, but far from relied upon to score the goals that could keep his team in the division.

Denilson

Denilson is currently a hated man.

After leaving Arsenal for Sao Paulo on loan this summer, he admitted he was disappointed with his tenure in North London and had expected to win more trophies. Just one would have done it, Denilson, but you didn't get any.

At Sao Paulo, he's having a nightmare. Two red cards in three games has led to fans urging the Brazilian side's manager Batista not to play him ever again.

Should Denilson eventually leave Arsenal without fanfare, he will not be remembered for all he was cracked up to be upon arrival. He was very much an unimpressive, untidy and unenthralling midfielder.

Benoit Pedretti

With Benoit Pedretti, it was a case of moving too fast too soon.

You can't blame a guy for having ambition, but you do start to query the logic when an up-and-coming player moves to Marseille and Lyon in order to try and displace well-established, world-class midfields.

He is a decent player, though, no doubts about that. He was the heartbeat of the AJ Auxerre team up until his departure. Now, aged 30 and at the top of his game, has the chance to shine at reigning champions Lille.

This time, he will be ready to take on the challenge at hand. But the wasted years beforehand mean his potential has diminished, and he never quite made it to what he could of been.

Jody Morris

Jody Morris did something silly.

You'd think anyone who made just under 125 career appearances for Chelsea would be set for life with a decent career, right?

Wrong. Turning down a five-year contract at Chelsea turned out to be the worst decision of his career. He moved through the ranks at Leeds, Rotherham and Millwall before ending up at current club St. Johnstone.

Samuele Dalla Bona

Samuele Dalla Bona had a path to success laid out in front of him, and he swiftly rejected it. 

Having made the breakthrough at Chelsea like the aforementioned Jody Morris, he swapped London for Milan in an attempt to return to Italy but made a trivial amount of appearances for the Rossoneri.

Like a few we have seen, and so many more over the course of the slideshow, the amount of loan spells Dalla Bona has taken in is simply incredible.

At the end of last transfer window, Samuele Dalla Bona signed for Italian fourth-tier club Mantova. In a different dimension, it could have been so, so different.

Francis Jeffers

Francis Jeffers is perhaps the most well-known English flop.

Having impressed as a teenager at Everton, he earned a big-money move to Arsenal but severely failed to impress.

He picked up no winners' medals for the Gunner's successes during his time there through lack of playing time, and he fell out of the international picture after just one appearance. He did score, though!

He has taken in several spells elsewhere since, turning out for Australian club Newcastle United Jets and Motherwell, amongst others.

He is now a 30-year-old free agent, completely and utterly removed from the talent that persuaded Arsene Wenger to sign him for £8 million back in 2001.

Freddy Adu

What on earth happened to Freddy Adu?

Once described as the wonder kid that every club wanted, Freddy Adu moved from the MLS to Benfica in an attempt to shine in Portugal.

Four loan spells later, including one to Turkey, he's back in the USA with current club Philadelphia Union. Unfortunately for Freddy, this is not the well-known career path to stardom. All the hype around him has vanished, and he looks set for a mediocre career.

Sonny Pike

The case of Sonny Pike is a sad one.

Tipped as the greatest-ever English footballing prospect whilst drawing comparisons to George Best and Diego Maradona got to the lad, as his career fell apart before it had even begun.

He signed for the revered Ajax youth team at just seven years of age but suffered a mental breakdown following the divorce of his parents.

The clubs he ended up actually turning out for included Barnet and Enfield.

Dean Ashton

Dean Ashton was a bust for a different reason than most on this list.

He looked a real striking talent and a great prospect to partner Wayne Rooney up front for the English national team. Unfortunately, injuries got the better of him.

I'm not sure what it is about West Ham, but a lot of crippling injuries are dealt out in the east end, and Ashton was one of those casualties. He retired in 2009, professing himself as having given up on beating his injury-ridden past.

A true shame for English football and West Ham.

Kerlon

Kerlon is famous for one thing and one thing only: the seal dribble.

He is able to juggle the ball with headers so successfully, he can move around the pitch whilst doing it. It became pretty annoying to defend against, so players started elbowing him in the face.

Either way, it caught the eye of many, and Italian giants Internazionale signed him in 2009. Whilst he is still technically on the books at Inter, his career there is over despite never making an appearance for the first team.

He has had several unproductive loan spells and is currently back in Brazil trying to rebuild his career and reputation.

Stefan Moore

Brother of the aforementioned Luke Moore, Stefan Moore captained the Aston Villa youth academy to FA Cup victory over Wayne Rooney's Everton in 2003.

However, his inability to break into the first team was met with several loan spells to the likes of Chesterfield, Millwall and Leicester.

He now plays ninth-tier football with St. Neots Town after turning out for a succession of clubs like Kidderminster Harriers and Halesowen Town.

The contrasting of Moore and Rooney's careers after meeting in the youth cup final is simply frightening.

Cherno Samba

Cherno Samba is a 25-year-old free agent who missed his shot at hitting the big time.

After his prolific production at youth level, his club Millwall knocked back bids of around £2 million from Liverpool and Manchester United in an effort to keep the young star on the books. 

He eventually left, but didn't hit the heights anyone anticipated. He's played in Greece, Finland and Wales so far in his short career.

His free-scoring school-boy days are long gone, and Cherno Samba is another example of a player who didn't make the right decision at the right time.

Wayne Routledge

Wayne Routledge, signed by Tottenham from the Crystal Palace youth academy, dazzled fans in the early days. Many fans held high hopes for him, but after a few lengthy injuries in what was supposed to be his breakthrough campaign, he was sold to Aston Villa for around £1 million in January 2008.

Things didn't get any better for him there, though, and after juggling Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City as stomping grounds, he now plies his trade for Swansea City.

It just doesn't look like it's going to happen for him at all. He's now 26 years old and dazzling no one.

Mika Ääritalo

Mika Aaritalo burst onto the scene as a youngster with huge potential, and Aston Villa fended off plenty of interest to attain his signature.

From that point on, he pretty much dropped off the face of the earth for two seasons and failed to make a single first-team appearance for the midlands giants.

He returned to hometown club TPS Turku and still plies his trade for them with a less-than-impressive goal-scoring record.

Andres D'Alessandro

Coming through the River Plate youth system alongside many of Argentina's current stars, Andres D'Alessandro was going to be huge.

He was renowned as a fantastic playmaker in the advanced midfield position, with shooting and passing skills that were to match the best.

But after a then-club record €9 million move to Wolfsburg, his career went slightly pear-shaped. He was loaned to Portsmouth and then Real Zaragoza in the following years, and he is now situated back in South America, this time with Brazilian club Internacional.

Javier Saviola

Javier Saviola graduated from the River Plate academy just like Andres D'Alessandro, and, whilst appearing to have a much more successful career on face value, it's been a little disappointing for him, too.

He was an initial success for Barcelona, but the inevitable loans came. When his contract finished, he was signed on a free by Real Madrid. He struggled even further in the capital and transferred to current club Benfica in 2009.

Benfica are a good team, and Saviola has a very good scoring record for them, excelling for them, in fact. But it has to be said, Saviola could have been one of the greatest players of all time.

Amusingly enough, despite the fact that Saviola did not reach his potential, Pele named him as one of the 100 greatest living footballers.

Paul Brayson

Coming out of the academy at Newcastle United, the teenager was praised by Kevin Keegan, who claimed the Geordie club possessed one of the most exciting striking talents ever.

But Keegan failed to incorporate Paul Brayson into the first team, and he never got within touching distance of it. He left shortly after.

His goal-scoring record in the lower leagues is unbelievable. His record for Newcastle Blue Star and Blyth Spartans is fantastic, but he was never able to take this and translate it onto a bigger stage.

Vicente

Vicente was supposed to be a big hit, and while his career was a success, he's another one of those who could have been so much more.

Eleven years at Valencia is in not a bad way to spend your time, especially since he won the La Liga title twice. But you know you stayed at a club too long when, after your contract comes to an end, you join Brighton and Hove Albion.

He's 30, an age that is not too old for football but certainly not young enough to take the next step in your career. Vicente failed to nail down a regular spot for the Spanish national team throughout the years in which it was dramatically underachieving. The injuries that plighted him throughout his career hampered his progress, which is a real shame.

It is harsh to include Vicente on the list, as he is a success, but you are left with a certain "what if" question when his name is mentioned.

Ricardo Quaresma

Ricardo Quaresma was a real success for FC Porto, prompting Jose Mourinho to pay almost €20 million to take him to Internazionale.

Unfortunately, his career there didn't exactly pan out like he would have wanted, and after an unsuccessful loan spell at Chelsea, he was turfed out of the club.

He currently plays for Turkish club Besiktas, and while they are one of the power three in the Turkish league, it's not the most glamorous place to play your football.

Luiz Felipe Scolari once stated, "I have the two best wingers in the world," when referring to Quaresma and Cristiano Ronaldo playing for the Portuguese national team. Their careers have taken two very different turns in recent years.

Fabio Rochemback

We end the slide show with another player who moved too early. It seems to be a theme running through these failures, doesn't it?

Fabio Rochemback moved to Barcelona and never made the grade. He was loaned to Sporting CP, then signed by Middlesborough. Moving from Barcelona to Middlesbrough isn't the best career track, by the way.

He had all the attributes to be a top player. Strong in the tackle, versatile across the field and one hell of long shot are ingredients for success, but it just didn't happen for Rochemback.

He is now in Brazil, playing for Gremio.

Thanks for Reading, Have Any Additions?

Thanks for taking the time to read my slideshow.

There are many, many players who never became what they could have been. If you have any suggestions for the list or wish to enlighten us about a lesser known flop, please do.

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