25 Biggest Wastes of Talent in Premiership History

The English Premier League has had a boatload of talent comet through its ranks in the 20-odd years since the formation of the newest version of the top level of English club football.

Some have lived up to expectations, while many many more have completely failed to deliver on what all their believers had them tipped to produce.

From homegrown talent to high dollar foreign transfers no one is a sure bet to be successful in the EPL as it is one, if not the toughest league to play in in all of the world.

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney is not a waste of talent, at least not yet, but if he continues to be used as a deep lying midfielder he could become one really quickly.

He scored nine goals in the first half of the season, but since his subsequent dropping back in formation he has been considerably less effective and has not scored since then.

Andriy Shevchenko

Andriy Shevchenko is one of the best Ukrainian footballers of all time without question. He was prolific as a striker for both Dynamo Kyiv and then AC Milan becoming one of the most feared men in front of the goal in all of Europe.

His move to Chelsea in the summer of 2006 for the fee of £30.8 million was the record transfer fee for an English club at the time and Jose Mourinho looked to have acquired the next great Chelsea striker.

However, that never came to be as the Ukrainian never settled into the English game and eventually would be loaned out back to Milan for a season before making his return home to Dynamo Kyiv.

Stephen Ireland

After showing he was well worth the grade at Manchester City, Stephen Ireland was sold to Aston Villa. He never truly got off the mark last season in Birmingham and ended up spending part of the season on loan to Newcastle United.

This year he is under new management once again but has yet to see playing time as a creative midfielder and looks like he could be in for another season languishing below his talent level.

Andrei Arshavin

The talented Russian that set the 2008 European Championship alight with his attacking displays earned himself a move to Arsenal later that summer.

In his first season in England he was excellent and became one of the most hated men in Liverpool history when he put four goals past the Reds at Anfield.

However, since that season he has steadily gone down hill as he has been forced into a more passing role than he is naturally talented to play. Until he gets to have more movement forward as a second striker or center forward he will likely not be the Arshavin he could be.

Dimitar Berbatov

Some call him a lazy player, but like him or not, Dimitar Berbatov scored the most goals in the EPL last season as he helped lead Manchester United to a record 19th English title while Wayne Rooney was stumbling about all season long.

Now despite his excellent year, he finds himself marooned on the United bench with nothing to do. He needs to get out of there and go some place that he can use his skills.

Carlos Tevezz

If the Argentine could only keep his ego and his mouth in check then he could be a club legend anywhere he has played.

However, Carlos Tevez simply is, "that guy," that continues to run his mouth and cause problems on all levels.

He was the toast of Manchester for two different clubs during his time in England, but has pretty much alienated the entire city now that he has destroyed his relationship at Eastlands.

It just goes to show that it is not always mismanagement that is to blame for horrendous wastes of talent as Tevez is ruining his career gradually all on his own.

Lee Hendrie

Aston Villa's 1998 Young Player of the Year, Lee Hendrie had all the talents to be one of the best midfielders to have ever come out of the club. However, it was just not meant to be.

His one major flaw has held him back his entire career, his attitude. He will always be thought off as one of the best Aston Villa academy graduates as far as his skill, but he just never got the mental game figured out and it has led him all the way down to the football conference in the middle reaches of the English Football hierarchy.

Adel Taraabt

The arrival of Joey Barton has seen Adel Taraabt of Queens Park Rangers become increasingly less creative. Last season, he was all over the midfield for Rangers creating offense match after match.

However, this season he has been relatively invisible and looks like he could be on the verge of a has been if he fails to find a way to get the most out of himself. That can also be placed on the positioning of manager Neil Warnock so far this season.

Alfonso Alves

Brazilian attacker Alfonso Alves moved to Middlesbrough in 2007 from Dutch Eredivisie club Heerenveen. Although he had been prolific in Holland he never cut the mustard in the EPL.

He scored six goals his first half season with Boro and then scored only four in his first full season proving he was not cut out for a relegation fight in anyway as the club was sent packing back down to the Championship at the end of the 2007-08 season.

Adrian Mutu

Another obvious waste of talent at Chelsea was striker Adrian Mutu. Not only was he waste of talent, he was a complete failure as a professional. He debuted with performances for the ages as he scored six goals in his first five matches, but it was not meant to be a match made in heaven.

A positive test for cocaine and rumors of wild nights ended up seeing him pay back nearly all of his £15.8 million transfer fee as he was shipped off to Italy a complete bust even though he showed much promise in the beginning.

Jordi Cruyff

The son of former Dutch and Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff, Jordi Cruyff was thought to be a major move for Manchester United in 1996 when he came over from Barcelona.

However, he never settled into the squad of the league as there never seemed to be a role for him in the midfield nor in the attack. He would only score a handful of goals for the Red Devils before he was offloaded after just 57 appearances.

David Bentley

A product of the Arsenal youth academy, David Bentley had all the skills to be one of the greats. However, like many that have had all the talent he never truly brought it to life.

He showed great enough skill for Blackburn Rovers to purchase him after a loan spell in 2006 and after 132 appearances 20 goals and 27 assists with the club he earned a major move to Tottenham Hotspur where he was thought to be the next great wide player to make a difference for Spurs.

To everyone's dismay his move has never panned out. Three years, 62 appearances, six goals and nine assists later he has failed to ever meet any expectations. Last season he made 15 loan appearances for Birmingham City offering little to the Blues, and this season was sent off to West Ham where he has only shown his face once.

Owen Hargreaves

There is no doubt that Hargreaves should have been a Manchester United legend. His one fully healthy season he helped lead them to the 2008 UEFA Champions League title.

However, his body let him down year after year until he was finally let go this past summer. There will never be anyone that believes he was anything other than a tragic waste of talent in the EPL.

Even if he can find a way into Manchester City's squad despite another injury, he will never get to prove how great he could have and should have been.

Tom Huddlestone

English midfielder Tom Huddlestone is another great talent that is sitting on the bench in the Premier League. The Tottenham player barely sees the light of day from how deep he has been dropped in the pecking order despite being one of the best long passers in the league.

It will take a transfer getting him out of there to find out if he is still the talent that he is thought to be.

Aaron Lennon

Another member of Tottenham Hotspur that is yet to live up to all of his talent or hype. Despite his great goal against Fulham in the clubs 10th EPL match of the 2011-12 season, Lennon has never reached his full potential for Tottenham.

At least he has not been as bad of a loss as David Bentley and Lennon still looks more than capable of proving many critics wrong.

Damien Duff

Damien Duff was great for Blackburn Rovers, but never did himself justice at Chelsea, Newcastle United nor at Fulham yet. The majority of the time he is simply average when he has the ability to have been so much more.

Matt Jansen

Another tragic waste of talent in many ways was once Blackburn Rover star, Matt Jansen. A motorcycle accident saw him miss his chance to make the England World Cup squad in 2002 and afterwards he never really regained his full potential.

Stan Collymore

Stan Collymore was brilliant for Nottingham Forest during his time from 1993-95 and thus earning a move to Liverpool. His departure from Forest is still what is regarded as the reason they were soon relegated from the EPL.

But his time on Merseyside would see him fail to ever live up to the hype of his skill and class and he would never again even be moderately successful after he left Anfield as his career spiraled out and fizzled out over the next several years.

Dean Ashton

Former West Ham striker Dean Ashton should have been able to make a great career out of his move to the Hammers in 2005. However, he spent two of his five years completely out of action and played only five games in the 2008-09 campaign.

All in total he only made 59 appearances for the Hammers, scoring 19 goals in five total seasons. He is another player who just physically was let down and we never got to see his full potential.

Michael Bridges

Michael Bridges was excellent in his early days for Sunderland before moving to Leeds United in 1999. However, a freak injury to him in a EUFA Cup match against Besiktas would see him injured and he never fully recovered.

From then on he was a travelling player spending loans here there and everywhere, before he eventually has now found himself in the Australian A-League with the Newcastle Jets.

He should have been an all time great for Leeds but he never got the chance.

Francis Jeffers

Another Everton breed attacker, Francis Jeffers, earned an £8 million transfer to Arsenal in 2001 after showing great talent at Goodison Park.

Injuries unfortunately would be one of two culprits to Jeffers career at Highbury, the second being a young Thierry Henry.

In his three seasons with Arsenal Jeffers only managed 22 appearances and four goals for the club.

Since then he has bounced from one club to the next as he fails to find his permanent place after having fallen so far from grace.

Danny Cadamarteri

Danny Cadamarteri is another young former Everton player that failed to live up to his full potential. Like Billy Kenny, Cadamarteri eventually was frozen out at Goodison Park due to assault charges and would then embark on a career that saw him move from one squad to another for the rest of his playing days.

He finished his Everton career with 110 appearances and 15 goals for the Toffees.

Billy Kenny

A sad story is the short lived career of Everton youth graduate, Billy Kenny. Kenny retired from football at only 21 due to having wrecked his career with drug and alcohol abuse.

He was the man of the match in the first ever EPL Merseyside derby and he was praised by former Everton and Liverpool player Peter Beardsley as the Everton version of, "Gazza." At that time he was unaware how accurate he was as both players succumbed to cocaine and alcoholism.

Joe Cole

He had his moments, but Joe Cole was supposed to change the game of English football and be the next great flair midfielder that lead England to glory internationally.

Well, we can all see how that has turned out. He had great games at West Ham, great games for Chelsea but spent most of that time in and out with injury and then finally he flopped at Liverpool completely.

Currently he is doing okay on loan to French side Lille, but is no longer really up to the level of performance the EPL has to offer.

Paul Gascoigne

English midfielder Paul Gascoigne is perhaps one of the most talented players in the center of the park to have played the game. His spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham, Middlesbrough and Everton all in the EPL proved he was an amazing talent.

However, his career was ruined by his unprofessionalism, drinking addiction and many other factors as well. Had he kept it together there is no limit to how great he should have been.

Conclusion

There is a never ending line of players that will be hyped to such ridiculous expectations that no one could fulfill them. However, as football fans we all form expectations of our clubs players and it can be disappointing when they do not meet our benchmarks.

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