On the second anniversary of Saido Berahino’s last senior goal, we take a closer look at a number of players that were being touted for stardom not so long ago that have since gone off the boil for one reason or another, in need of a fresh start to rejuvenate their careers.
Once one of the bright young hopes of English football, things haven’t panned out the way Berahino or either of his clubs would have hoped. Not long ago he was lining up alongside Harry Kane in the Three Lions U21s attack but in the two years that the Stoke striker has now gone without scoring, the Tottenham man has bagged 88 for club and country.
Back in 2015, Berardi rejected the chance to sign for Juventus after The Old Lady had offered him a route back but he instead opted to stay with Sassuolo. He was the brightest young forward Italy had at the time, but injuries have taken their toll since. Having scored 16 goals in 2013/14, his tally has dwindled year on year since, with just two to his name in the current campaign from 21 league appearances.
When Divock Origi burst onto the scene at the 2014 World Cup, profiting from injury to Christian Benteke and a lack of form from Romelu Lukaku, he looked like a star in the making. A decent if unspectacular season with Lille followed, scoring eight league goals, but Liverpool were quick to snap the youngster up amidst fears they might be beaten to the punch. In truth they may have been a little too quick, with Origi failing to reach that tally since, with a modest return of five from 21 appearances on loan at Wolfsburg this season so far.
When Pep Guardiola took charge at Bayern, it was Hojbjerg that he earmarked as one of his pet projects, seeing something in the Dane that reminded him of how Xavi would retain possession in effortless fashion at Barcelona. He ultimately never broke through at the Allianz, however, and struggled to make a significant impact in loan spells with Augsburg or Schalke either. Now at Southampton, the midfielder has started just 25 of a possible 66 league matches and has failed to live up to the premature hype.
A classic case of a big move coming too soon for a young player, Baba struggled to adjust to the Premier League at Chelsea having made a real impression as an adventurous left-back with Augsburg. Recently embarking on a second loan spell at Schalke after his first was cut short by a serious knee injury, the Ghanaian is back fit but almost certainly has no future in West London and will need to start from scratch.
From one current Schalke player to a former one, when Johannes Geis made the move to Sevilla in the summer there was plenty of intrigue in Germany as to how he would adapt in Spain. The answer has been pretty emphatic. Eduardo Berizzo has overlooked the German youth international time and again and when Geis has been utilised in La Liga - starting just five times - it’s been in a back three. His ability over set pieces and range of passing hasn’t been put to use and another move should be on the cards come the summer.
He may have only joined Chelsea in January but it’s already pretty clear that Ross Barkley’s hopes of getting fit and in contention for an England return ahead of the World Cup are all but over. He’s made just one start for the Blues, and a shambolic one at that, hauled off shortly after half-time a 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth, and Conte clearly isn’t sold on the talents of a player once deemed as one of the Three Lions most prodigious. He’ll be hoping the Italian’s reign at Stamford Bridge is as doomed as many suspect.
Speaking of players who might be keen to see the back of their current manager, the saga as to whether Jose Mourinho wants to keep Luke Shaw or offload him has rumbled on for some time. The left-back has been fully fit for much of this season, which has been a rarity since his big money move from Southampton, but has still made just six league appearances despite left-back being highlighted time and again as Manchester United’s problem position. The Portuguese clearly doesn’t feel the England international is the answer to it.
You have to go back four years to the time that Juan Iturbe was dazzling Serie A supporters as a 20-year-old plying his trade for Verona. He scored eight goals from the wing in the 2013/14 campaign, while his pace and trickery caught the eye of every top club in the country. It was Roma that secured his signature the season later, but he would start just 20 league games for the club in total. Loan spells at Bournemouth and Torino proved unsuccessful, while his latest in Mexico with Tijuana has been cut short by a cruciate ligament injury.
When Benfica signed Lazar Markovic for €10m from Partizan Belgrade as a teenager, they were confident they were getting a real gem. Liverpool clearly concurred, paying €25m the next summer in 2014, but since then the winger has really struggled. He showed flashes of what he could do in his first season but Klopp didn’t feel he was ready and a season on loan at Fenerbahce certainly didn’t convince otherwise. The 23-year-old again showed some signs of improvement in the second half of last season at Hull but now having allowed him to join Anderlecht for the remainder of this campaign, they will be willing to take a significant loss on the fee they paid over three years ago.
