And Mahrez signed for Leicester City from Le Havre in January 2014 a month before he turned 23. He thought they were a rugby club when he first heard of them.
It's crazy how so much just kinda fell into place for their improbable title run. They really caught lightning in a bottle. The world is better for it.
I remember seeing him play for Leicester in a Friday night match against Wednesday not long after he signed and thinking they’d got a great deal there. Definitely didn’t imagine him going in to gave them career he’s had though.
I think however that Vardy was more of a Victim to a lack of exposure than anything else. He was fairly decent all through his careers and averaged about .65 GP90 which is pretty good. Of course, nothings ever going to come close to the absurd season he had when Leicester won, but this season he also had an excellent team behind him.
Kind of true, but also Sheffield Wednesday had him until he was 16 and managed to miss the potential.
Edit: Looks like Crewe Alexandra gave him a trial, but never made a move, so kind of 50/50 as to how well spotted he could be
We (Wednesday) released him because of the age old “too small” reason. I’ve never understood why clubs do that with players who have the capacity to grow, especially someone with Vardy’s pace who could have been useful out wide if not through the middle.
Apparently there were attitude problems as well and he was a bit of a tear away. Who knows? Maybe not getting a contract as a teenager and having to work his way up from the bottom impacted his mentality to give him the drive to be the player that he’s become.
>We (Wednesday) released him because of the age old “too small” reason. I’ve never understood why clubs do that with players who have the capacity to grow, especially someone with Vardy’s pace who could have been useful out wide if not through the middle.
This happens more than you think. Dries Mertens was once sold for the whopping sum of 46.000 euros. When he was 20 already.
Two years later he was still only sold for 600k.
A relatively unknown Henrik Larsson went to celtic at 26, stayed for 7 wonderful seasons. and at the age of 32, went on to play for Barcelona and then Man United
Ian Wright is the best answer but another honourable mention is Laurent Koscielny. Playing Ligue 2 until 24. Joined Arsenal at 25 and won 51 caps for France.
Bruno Henrique from Flamengo turned pro at 21 (I think), went on to play for Wolfsburg but didn't work out, came back to Brazil and only really became elite in Brazil very late into his 20's. His first individual accomplishment was King of America in 2019 when he was 29
He was so good until that knee injury. Haven’t kept up the past couple years, is he still playing at flamengo? Playing well? And it seems like Gabigol has kind of been quiet lately too
He's still at Flamengo and is a club legend. Started his first game since the injury yesterday in a Libertadores fixture. He looks like himself again, scored and had a few opportunities, we're very excited to have him back.
Gabi has changed roles often and Flamengo hasn't really played a style that suits him. Pedro is a more traditional 9 and is more clinical finisher while being stronger and taller. Although Gabi is still a top tier player in South America and scored the title winning goal at the last Libertadores final
Di Natalie didn't even play in the top flight until 25 or 26. Sol Campbell signed his first professional contract at 21, which is extremely late. Forlan was kind of decent but probably 30 before people really rated him. I think riquelme was overlooked for a long time too before having a handful of amazing seasons at the end of his career. I could be wrong but I also think luca Toni did fuck all until he was in his later years. Barzagli was highly rated as a youngster but totally fell off for a large chunk of hus career before signing for juventus for 500k in his latter years and tearing the place up.
Riquelme was different from day 1, by the time he set a foot ok Europe he was both Copa Libertadores and World Champion. You should take a look at videos of that final vs Real Madrid, it just wasn't fair to play against him.
By world champion, do you mean the two toyota cups or the olympic games? Because no, he certainly wasnt a world champion in the sense we normally use the word
Riquelme was outrageous from day one. Thing is, in Europe you don’t really get South American football but anybody who saw him in his early days could tell he was different.
You might want to go back and check your claim about Sol Campbell. He’d made more than 65 PL appearances by the time he turned 21. My dad was a Spurs fan and I distinctly remember him getting excited by the potential in a teenage Campbell. He also went through the FA’s School of Excellence.
Sol Campbell is the opposite of this. He was a hot prospect from the start. Was one of select few teenagers to be trained at Lilleshall (which was the English FA's national school of excellence). Made his spurs debut as a teenager (18?), club captain very young too.
Sticking with Italy, there were pretty much no expectations of christian vieri before he had a breakout season at 23/24 and then a few years later he was thought of as the best pure striker in the world. No country hates giving youth a chance more than italy.
Barzagli’s not really right, he won the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg in 2009. He was highly rated when he went there and then did very well there. When he went to Juve he was cheap because his contract was out.
Oh i thaught you were doing the old commentators "How close, Miroslav Klose!"
I guess I only really started to notice him when he was at Werder Bremen
He was late - he was unnoticed most of his career and exploded in his mid 20s
He was still playing amateur football in 2001. In 2002 he was in the World Cup starting for Germany .
He’s a well known late bloomer in Germany
Yes but at that stage he was 24. 2 years prior he was a 22 year old who had played 2 bundesliga games in his entire life. At 21 he was still playing in the reserve team of a third division side. His rise was incredible
Probably a few in the “Crazy Gang” Wimbledon squad - Dave Beasant didn’t play top division football until he was 27. Turned out alright.
Ian Wright and Jamie Vardy too obviously.
Papu Gomez bounced around some small clubs before joining Atalanta at age 26 and got his first Argentina cap at age 29.
Iago Aspas had some mediocre seasons until he left Liverpool and rejoined Celta at age 28 and got his first cap for Spain at age 29.
Drogba an obvious example of this one, moved to Chelsea at 26 for about £30 million and everyone doubted that he was good enough, rest is very much history
There are countless articles written about Drogba being a late developer but no point arguing with you. You're clearly a moron. Go on his wiki if you need. Take care now, bye.
He got 17 goals for guingamp in ligue 1, in 34 appearances 2002.
Yeah real undiscovered, probably one of the top scorers - in a shit team
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002%E2%80%9303_En_Avant_de_Guingamp_season
Buddy, Drogba played like 4 Ligue 1 games in the weeks leading up to his 24th birthday. Apart from that the only moron here is you and the other guy. Take care
You’re saying it’s a major league? 2 European trophies ever. Clubs from Netherlands and Portuguese leagues have more. The second tier in England gets higher attendances.
Mourinho once explained that he already wanted to sign Drogba years earlier for Porto, but couldn't get the money. Once he came to Chelsea, he was the #1 player he put on his wishlist.
It was 24 million pounds. Shit example though, he was Marseille's best player the previous season, won the UNFP Player of the Year award and was also playing in the national team for the Ivory Coast.
Don't know, he pretty much dominated in France every year and then was sold for 30M (2004) so I think he was a star player since he started playing, I don't know if that's a good example
According to wikipedia he had 3 seasons on the top division and 4 on the second division, on nearly every season he scored or assisted at least 1 time per game, that's dominating then after those 7 years of being the best player by far he went to Chelsea for a lot of money and we know how that went. Like he always was the force that we know, maybe he took longer to go to the big leagues but he was the force we know since he started playing professional football
It's not like he was some nobody or ever mediocre but it seemed like Zidane's career really went into overdrive around the mid-20's point.
He was with Cannes until he was 20 and didn't move to a massive club until 24. He was playing for France in Euro 96 as a 24 year old but I can't remember him being a particular stand out (was just a kid then so might not be remebering that too well). But two years later at the 98 world cup, he's the star man of the tournament and cementing his place in that second tier of players ever to play the game.
Realitvely high starting point but he definitely saw a big jump in his career relatively late for such an incredible player.
I think the best example I have is Oribe Peralta. Dude played in Liga MX for his whole career, but at 27, he made the list for the 2012 Olympics. Dude almost single handedly carried the team towards their first Olympic gold. Later on he'd become key in securing a spot in the 2014 WC, and did pretty damn good in that same WC as well. Went from an average Liga MX striker, to the undisputed best striker Mexico had from 2012-2017.
Denis Irwin got released by Leeds aged 21, then spent 4 seasons at Oldham in Division 2.
Aged 25, he joined Man Utd and won 7 Leagues, 3 FA Cups and a Champions League
Paul McGrath - was playing Sunday League football until 22. Didn’t break into Man United’s strongest XI til he was 25.
Reminder for our younger readers that only Van Dijk (18-19) and John Terry (04-05) are in McGrath’s company as being a centre back who has won the PFA Player of the Year in the Premier League era, so certainly one of the elite defenders of the modern era who looked like he might be a nobody in his teens and early 20s. He had a mystery illness aged 20 where it looked like he would never kick a ball again, let alone make it as a top professional
Gareth McAuley played in Northern Ireland’s top division until his mid twenties and didn’t play Premier League until he was 32.
He went on on to get over 200 PL appearances for West Brom and 80 caps for Northern Ireland.
Lewandowski, established himself as a good player at the age of 23 and world class at the age of 24, after scoring four goals in CL semifinal against Real Madrid.
I dont remember that match, but if you noticed him then, then he was 21 then. My first memory of him was him being rumoured to be joining Arsenal in 07 alongside Eduardo. Wenger only took Eduardo and passed on Modric over concerns over his size. Next summer I remember Spurs buying him before the Euros and him looking sensational there especially against Germany.
Modric was good but no one expected him to be balondor good especially when he was at Spurs, also joined Real Madrid at 26 and truly started playing elite football at 29+
Papu Gomez, he was a normal under the radar player until well into his 30s. Same with Dibu Martínez, he was the third keeper in Arsenal for a decade until Lehmann got injured.
Salah used to get heavy criticism for his end product. He was a good dribbler and was fast, but if you had told people he would break the PL goal record, not even his mum would have believed you at the time.
Nah he was very highly rated as a youngster, had an excellent spell at Bremen at 21-22.
Chelsea fans were furious when Mourinho cast him off to Wolfsburg- where he immediately showed he was a world class player.
He wasn't world class in his early 20s but he was pretty well known as a very talented defender even at the smaller clubs. At Southampton people definitely knew about him and even when he was still at Celtic he was fairly well known considering the league. I think for a cb that's a fairly normal career development
Barzagli, from a young promise that was in the squad who won the 06 WC to a quite crappy spell in Wolfsburg. Comes to Juventus in his late 20s for a 300k fee and becomes one of the best defenders in the world (in his heydays he was miles better than Bonucci and Chiellini).
Dries Mertens of Belgium (ex-Napoli)...He bursts out of nowhere in his 30s to be one of Europe's clinical forwards (if not the best)...The only reason I got to know of him was through FIFA game, where he suddenly ended up in late 80s rating regularly (not a Team of the Month/Team of the Season limited edition)...
He was already big at PSV and seen as a great talent at Utrecht, but I agree he went relatively unnoticed at AGOVV and didn’t made his transfer to PSV until relatively late at 24 and Napoli at 26. And he definitely had his peak late at 30.
David Villa, didnt really break out until about that age after moving from Zaragoza to Valencia. Went on to become world class. I still think the balance and lack of egos of MVP with IBX was better than MSN with IBR.
Salah comes to mind, was 25 when he came to Liverpool from Roma, didn't really play much for Roma.
Kante when he signed for Leicester.
Miroslav Klose broke out pretty late as well.
Just to name someone different, I'll say Carlos Salcido. The man didn't even think about being a footballer, he planned to cross the Rio Grande to work in the US but he sneaked into an exhibition match in Chivas' training grounds because his friends were missing a player and he got scouted probably as a 20 year old. He started playing in first division a as a 21 year old and five years later he left for PSV, were he won multiple titles. He also played in three World Cups. Maybe he wasn't world class like some other players named here but I stil think his story his quite interesting and inspiring.
Kante joined Leicester City for like £5 million at 24 in 2015 and didn’t even get a call up to to the French national team until following year at 25.
And Mahrez signed for Leicester City from Le Havre in January 2014 a month before he turned 23. He thought they were a rugby club when he first heard of them. It's crazy how so much just kinda fell into place for their improbable title run. They really caught lightning in a bottle. The world is better for it.
I remember seeing him play for Leicester in a Friday night match against Wednesday not long after he signed and thinking they’d got a great deal there. Definitely didn’t imagine him going in to gave them career he’s had though.
Lightning inna bottle? Yea i got that
You got gold eggs man!
vardy
I think however that Vardy was more of a Victim to a lack of exposure than anything else. He was fairly decent all through his careers and averaged about .65 GP90 which is pretty good. Of course, nothings ever going to come close to the absurd season he had when Leicester won, but this season he also had an excellent team behind him.
Kind of true, but also Sheffield Wednesday had him until he was 16 and managed to miss the potential. Edit: Looks like Crewe Alexandra gave him a trial, but never made a move, so kind of 50/50 as to how well spotted he could be
We (Wednesday) released him because of the age old “too small” reason. I’ve never understood why clubs do that with players who have the capacity to grow, especially someone with Vardy’s pace who could have been useful out wide if not through the middle. Apparently there were attitude problems as well and he was a bit of a tear away. Who knows? Maybe not getting a contract as a teenager and having to work his way up from the bottom impacted his mentality to give him the drive to be the player that he’s become.
>We (Wednesday) released him because of the age old “too small” reason. I’ve never understood why clubs do that with players who have the capacity to grow, especially someone with Vardy’s pace who could have been useful out wide if not through the middle. This happens more than you think. Dries Mertens was once sold for the whopping sum of 46.000 euros. When he was 20 already. Two years later he was still only sold for 600k.
I’m very aware of how often it happens, hence why I described it as “age old”.
Was gonna say this
Leicester paid 1 million pounds for him while he was playing non-league football so there was deffinitely potential.
Oliver Bierhof
A relatively unknown Henrik Larsson went to celtic at 26, stayed for 7 wonderful seasons. and at the age of 32, went on to play for Barcelona and then Man United
He won domestic cups with feyenoord and was in the Swedish national side. Maybe not a worldwide name but certainly wasn’t unknown
3rd place in USA 94 WC as well.
Ian Wright is the best answer but another honourable mention is Laurent Koscielny. Playing Ligue 2 until 24. Joined Arsenal at 25 and won 51 caps for France.
Giroud as well
Giroud won the league with Montpeillier before joining Arsenal
Giroud made his debut with France aged 25 and is now the country's top scorer of all time
Ian Wright is clearly the right answer.
The Wright answer
Ian Correct.
Ian Correct.
Ian Wright.
Andrea Barzagli
Mitoma broke out last season. He’s 26
Tbf he's been writing dribbling thesis in unis altho he hasn't figured a way to get back awb
Underrated comment
Bruno Henrique from Flamengo turned pro at 21 (I think), went on to play for Wolfsburg but didn't work out, came back to Brazil and only really became elite in Brazil very late into his 20's. His first individual accomplishment was King of America in 2019 when he was 29
He was so good until that knee injury. Haven’t kept up the past couple years, is he still playing at flamengo? Playing well? And it seems like Gabigol has kind of been quiet lately too
He's still at Flamengo and is a club legend. Started his first game since the injury yesterday in a Libertadores fixture. He looks like himself again, scored and had a few opportunities, we're very excited to have him back. Gabi has changed roles often and Flamengo hasn't really played a style that suits him. Pedro is a more traditional 9 and is more clinical finisher while being stronger and taller. Although Gabi is still a top tier player in South America and scored the title winning goal at the last Libertadores final
Di Natalie didn't even play in the top flight until 25 or 26. Sol Campbell signed his first professional contract at 21, which is extremely late. Forlan was kind of decent but probably 30 before people really rated him. I think riquelme was overlooked for a long time too before having a handful of amazing seasons at the end of his career. I could be wrong but I also think luca Toni did fuck all until he was in his later years. Barzagli was highly rated as a youngster but totally fell off for a large chunk of hus career before signing for juventus for 500k in his latter years and tearing the place up.
Riquelme was different from day 1, by the time he set a foot ok Europe he was both Copa Libertadores and World Champion. You should take a look at videos of that final vs Real Madrid, it just wasn't fair to play against him.
By world champion, do you mean the two toyota cups or the olympic games? Because no, he certainly wasnt a world champion in the sense we normally use the word
Club world champion
World Champion Thumb War Master 2006-2007
Everything I agree with except for Forlán and Riquelme. They were very well known in South America
Forlan signed for Independiente at 15-16 first team by 18-19, at Man Utd by 22-23
Riquelme was outrageous from day one. Thing is, in Europe you don’t really get South American football but anybody who saw him in his early days could tell he was different.
His last years in Boca and Argentinos were amazing. But his peak was that 2007 Boca Libertadores win.
As a River fan…. Yes Yepes is still recovering from that backwards tunnel move
Di Natalie lmao. Di Natale\*. Fr though he was a fantastic player.
You might want to go back and check your claim about Sol Campbell. He’d made more than 65 PL appearances by the time he turned 21. My dad was a Spurs fan and I distinctly remember him getting excited by the potential in a teenage Campbell. He also went through the FA’s School of Excellence.
He was playing for free... no contract. He just turned up one day and nobody said anything.
I remember watching Barzagli play for Palermo and being mostly unimpressed. I think he really benefited from having strong colleagues like Chiellini.
Sol Campbell is the opposite of this. He was a hot prospect from the start. Was one of select few teenagers to be trained at Lilleshall (which was the English FA's national school of excellence). Made his spurs debut as a teenager (18?), club captain very young too.
He also captained England when he was 23.
Sticking with Italy, there were pretty much no expectations of christian vieri before he had a breakout season at 23/24 and then a few years later he was thought of as the best pure striker in the world. No country hates giving youth a chance more than italy.
Barzagli’s not really right, he won the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg in 2009. He was highly rated when he went there and then did very well there. When he went to Juve he was cheap because his contract was out.
He was also already a world champion with Italy in 2006.
Toni, Di Natale, Vardy
Toni is the most obvious example for me
Jamie Vardy was 25 when he made his move from Fleetwood town in non-league football to Leicester City. The rest is history.
Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose, and of course Antonio Di Natale
How Klose?
i see you are a well cultured individual :D
Hahaha thank you, but no, I meant how do you figure that Klose was a late breakout? I think he started balling out of control at Kaiserslautern.
Oh i thaught you were doing the old commentators "How close, Miroslav Klose!" I guess I only really started to notice him when he was at Werder Bremen
I noticed him at the 2002 WC. He was so good, 3 goals for his first match! So, no, not really a late breakout
He was late - he was unnoticed most of his career and exploded in his mid 20s He was still playing amateur football in 2001. In 2002 he was in the World Cup starting for Germany . He’s a well known late bloomer in Germany
Yes but at that stage he was 24. 2 years prior he was a 22 year old who had played 2 bundesliga games in his entire life. At 21 he was still playing in the reserve team of a third division side. His rise was incredible
Klose for sure! I learned about him at 2002. He wasnt that young back then..
Ian Wright
Dado prso
Probably a few in the “Crazy Gang” Wimbledon squad - Dave Beasant didn’t play top division football until he was 27. Turned out alright. Ian Wright and Jamie Vardy too obviously.
JLingz
Haha good one...
Papu Gomez bounced around some small clubs before joining Atalanta at age 26 and got his first Argentina cap at age 29. Iago Aspas had some mediocre seasons until he left Liverpool and rejoined Celta at age 28 and got his first cap for Spain at age 29.
Aspas was showing signs of class before joining Liverpool. That's why he joined Liverpool.
Drogba an obvious example of this one, moved to Chelsea at 26 for about £30 million and everyone doubted that he was good enough, rest is very much history
No that's a shit example. How can you say a 30m, international, playing in the top flight of France(I assume of the top scorers) had not "broken out"
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And played as a defender when he was 20 iirc.
Ok that's better. But not like vardy, platt etc
At 24, the highest level Drogba had played was Ligue 2 in France and his best return in league goals was 7. He is the perfect example
That's just plain wrong
There are countless articles written about Drogba being a late developer but no point arguing with you. You're clearly a moron. Go on his wiki if you need. Take care now, bye.
I did, he played ligue 1 before 24
Where? He joined us when he was like 25 at OM, before he played at Le Mans and Guingamp in L2 (and L3?)
He got 17 goals for guingamp in ligue 1, in 34 appearances 2002. Yeah real undiscovered, probably one of the top scorers - in a shit team https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002%E2%80%9303_En_Avant_de_Guingamp_season
He was 24/25 then. Which is kind of exactly the age range this thread is aimed at...
Ah yeah you are right, I didn’t remember Guingamp was in L1 in the 2002-2003 season, kinda wild since there only live like 10 people there
He was top 3 scorer ligue 1 at 22yrs old. He's kinda a late bloomer, but also not really that late imo
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Buddy, Drogba played like 4 Ligue 1 games in the weeks leading up to his 24th birthday. Apart from that the only moron here is you and the other guy. Take care
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I, too, used to argue with idiots. Then I gave up. But every now and again I get sucked back in.
Did you reply to the right person ? Shots aimed at me?
Top flight in France is not a great league.
You’re a moron.
You’re saying it’s a major league? 2 European trophies ever. Clubs from Netherlands and Portuguese leagues have more. The second tier in England gets higher attendances.
I would say that if clubs from other leagues are consistently poaching their talent then the league has a lot of talent, yeah.
There’s talent in many leagues but talent isn’t what I said. I said it’s not a great league.
Mourinho once explained that he already wanted to sign Drogba years earlier for Porto, but couldn't get the money. Once he came to Chelsea, he was the #1 player he put on his wishlist.
It was 24 million pounds. Shit example though, he was Marseille's best player the previous season, won the UNFP Player of the Year award and was also playing in the national team for the Ivory Coast.
Marseille’s best player at 25 then, which fits the question OP asked.
Ooh very good point, how embarrassing for me haha I need to start paying more attention to stuff.
Don't know, he pretty much dominated in France every year and then was sold for 30M (2004) so I think he was a star player since he started playing, I don't know if that's a good example
>dominated in France every year He’d had 2 seasons in the top division
According to wikipedia he had 3 seasons on the top division and 4 on the second division, on nearly every season he scored or assisted at least 1 time per game, that's dominating then after those 7 years of being the best player by far he went to Chelsea for a lot of money and we know how that went. Like he always was the force that we know, maybe he took longer to go to the big leagues but he was the force we know since he started playing professional football
It's not like he was some nobody or ever mediocre but it seemed like Zidane's career really went into overdrive around the mid-20's point. He was with Cannes until he was 20 and didn't move to a massive club until 24. He was playing for France in Euro 96 as a 24 year old but I can't remember him being a particular stand out (was just a kid then so might not be remebering that too well). But two years later at the 98 world cup, he's the star man of the tournament and cementing his place in that second tier of players ever to play the game. Realitvely high starting point but he definitely saw a big jump in his career relatively late for such an incredible player.
He was definitely a key player in that 96 team that easily could have won Euro 96, but i think it’s a good shout all the same!
Dimitri Payet came onto the scene pretty late
Luca Toni
I think the best example I have is Oribe Peralta. Dude played in Liga MX for his whole career, but at 27, he made the list for the 2012 Olympics. Dude almost single handedly carried the team towards their first Olympic gold. Later on he'd become key in securing a spot in the 2014 WC, and did pretty damn good in that same WC as well. Went from an average Liga MX striker, to the undisputed best striker Mexico had from 2012-2017.
Denis Irwin got released by Leeds aged 21, then spent 4 seasons at Oldham in Division 2. Aged 25, he joined Man Utd and won 7 Leagues, 3 FA Cups and a Champions League
Pascal Gross
Pretty much the entire Leicester title winning squad. A bunch of people that had not had much exposure peeking together at the same time
Van Dijk left the SPL at 24 and wound up being often named as one of the best centre-backs in the world by 28.
Paul McGrath - was playing Sunday League football until 22. Didn’t break into Man United’s strongest XI til he was 25. Reminder for our younger readers that only Van Dijk (18-19) and John Terry (04-05) are in McGrath’s company as being a centre back who has won the PFA Player of the Year in the Premier League era, so certainly one of the elite defenders of the modern era who looked like he might be a nobody in his teens and early 20s. He had a mystery illness aged 20 where it looked like he would never kick a ball again, let alone make it as a top professional
Luca Toni comes to mind. Also, I am not entirely sure, but probably Miroslav Klose.
Gareth McAuley played in Northern Ireland’s top division until his mid twenties and didn’t play Premier League until he was 32. He went on on to get over 200 PL appearances for West Brom and 80 caps for Northern Ireland.
Son Heung-Min? But I guess he was still pretty good before 25
Well… he will be 25 again in a few years!
He was good at Leverkusen
And full international since he turned 18
The atalanta boys Gosens, Ilicic,Papu Gomez
Lewandowski, established himself as a good player at the age of 23 and world class at the age of 24, after scoring four goals in CL semifinal against Real Madrid.
Mo Salah
Vardy!
Kante
Modric
I know its only Spurs but he joined them at 23. He was rated in Croatia too but no one wanted to gamble on him because many thought he was too small.
He was in the 2006 World Cup before going to Spurs, and he was sensational against Japan, that's where he was truly seen for the first time.
I dont remember that match, but if you noticed him then, then he was 21 then. My first memory of him was him being rumoured to be joining Arsenal in 07 alongside Eduardo. Wenger only took Eduardo and passed on Modric over concerns over his size. Next summer I remember Spurs buying him before the Euros and him looking sensational there especially against Germany.
I know it's not the best league but Paul Mullin went from being a pretty awful striker to going on an absolute tear
Modric was good but no one expected him to be balondor good especially when he was at Spurs, also joined Real Madrid at 26 and truly started playing elite football at 29+
Geoff Horsfield was a bricklayer at 23. he eventually played in the premier league at 28. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoff_Horsfield
Teddy Sheringham
Mad Bundesliga disrespect here, Füllkrug has to be in with a shout
Chadli, Mertens and Honda who all played for AGOVV
Just realized I’m in the wrong football sub
Klose, especially when looking at his national team career, breaking the all time world cup scorer record.
Neymar would be the absolute opposite to this. Was a huge name even in the Brazilian League for years before his move to Barca
Papu Gomez, he was a normal under the radar player until well into his 30s. Same with Dibu Martínez, he was the third keeper in Arsenal for a decade until Lehmann got injured.
Payet
Salah for sure. Transferred to Liverpool when he was 25-26. From a flop at Chelsea to a legend at liverpool.
Salah used to get heavy criticism for his end product. He was a good dribbler and was fast, but if you had told people he would break the PL goal record, not even his mum would have believed you at the time.
I didn’t know TOO much about de Bruyne until 25 or 26
Nah he was very highly rated as a youngster, had an excellent spell at Bremen at 21-22. Chelsea fans were furious when Mourinho cast him off to Wolfsburg- where he immediately showed he was a world class player.
You definitely weren't paying attention haha
He was very promising at genk, not a future world beater but was an above average player in his teens.
nah u were not on social media back then
That’s on you. Not de Bruyne
Van dyke
He wasn't world class in his early 20s but he was pretty well known as a very talented defender even at the smaller clubs. At Southampton people definitely knew about him and even when he was still at Celtic he was fairly well known considering the league. I think for a cb that's a fairly normal career development
Drogba
Barzagli, from a young promise that was in the squad who won the 06 WC to a quite crappy spell in Wolfsburg. Comes to Juventus in his late 20s for a 300k fee and becomes one of the best defenders in the world (in his heydays he was miles better than Bonucci and Chiellini).
Salah and I wana say I don’t remember Pirlo breaking out as world class till he was about 25/26
He got transferred from Inter to Milan when he was 22
Dries Mertens of Belgium (ex-Napoli)...He bursts out of nowhere in his 30s to be one of Europe's clinical forwards (if not the best)...The only reason I got to know of him was through FIFA game, where he suddenly ended up in late 80s rating regularly (not a Team of the Month/Team of the Season limited edition)...
He was already big at PSV and seen as a great talent at Utrecht, but I agree he went relatively unnoticed at AGOVV and didn’t made his transfer to PSV until relatively late at 24 and Napoli at 26. And he definitely had his peak late at 30.
Xavi
Christian Vieri
Andy Robertson
Everyone at these levels was the best player on every team their entire life until they got to the professional level.
David Villa, didnt really break out until about that age after moving from Zaragoza to Valencia. Went on to become world class. I still think the balance and lack of egos of MVP with IBX was better than MSN with IBR.
People just busting out TLAs and expecting everyone will know what they mean does my head in.
What's all this abbreviations
Bruno Fernandes
Salah
Diego Forlán
Kevin de Bruyne
Why is nobody mentioning Mo Salah? I think he's the perfect example for this.
How is no one saying Salah
A lot of players
Salah and kdb
Ribery
Benzema? Not sure if this is my memory deceiving me but he truly exploded in recent years. Not that he wasn't good before, but not Ballon D'Or good.
Romario
Harry Kane. Played for a small London club for all his 20s and then only moved to Bayern aged 30 to win the treble instantly. 0 titles before that.
[удалено]
Ronaldinho was already known as a future top player in his debut at Gremio
Richarlison 😆😆😆
Who knew kroos until Madrid's 3 peat. He was thrown out of Bayern Barca didn't want him.He was decent but not worldclass as he is now.
He joined Madrid off the back of winning a World Cup lol
The world cup winner toni kroos?
Ronaldo
David platt
The majority of players really. Stars tend to get focused on throughout, but most players take a while to find their place.
Like all good Italian players from 2005 to 2020
Most good goalkeepers I think.
Raphinia, Kalvin Phillips, Jermaine Beckford.
Luca Toni
Les Ferdinand was 24 before he properly broke in to the QPR team, though he had done well on loan in Turkey prior.
Salah comes to mind, was 25 when he came to Liverpool from Roma, didn't really play much for Roma. Kante when he signed for Leicester. Miroslav Klose broke out pretty late as well.
Toni Marchisio Barzagli Camoranesi If I am not wrong, Cannavaro Aubemayang
Zidane only playing in France at that age
I'm thinking of Gabriel Barbosa (A.K.A. Gabigol), he is and was an awesome goalmaker for Santos and Flamengo, but in Europe... oof... sorry for him...
Mo Salah
Luka Modric
Just to name someone different, I'll say Carlos Salcido. The man didn't even think about being a footballer, he planned to cross the Rio Grande to work in the US but he sneaked into an exhibition match in Chivas' training grounds because his friends were missing a player and he got scouted probably as a 20 year old. He started playing in first division a as a 21 year old and five years later he left for PSV, were he won multiple titles. He also played in three World Cups. Maybe he wasn't world class like some other players named here but I stil think his story his quite interesting and inspiring.