5 football players whose careers massively declined
In football, there inevitably comes a time in a player's career where they cannot move the ball like they used to, their passes are not as pinpoint as they used to be, or they can’t find the top corner of the goal anymore.
Usually, a football player's decline comes with age or accumulated injuries. However, there have been cases in football where some players fell off instantly and never recovered.
Here is the list of the top 5 football players whose careers declined massively.
#5. Alexis Sánchez
At 33, Alexis Sanchez is in the twilight of his illustrious footballing career. Sanchez first came into the spotlight at Barcelona, where he played alongside the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta. However, it was Arsenal in the Premier League, where he took center stage.
He scored 80 goals and provided 45 assists in 166 appearances for the Gunners, while winning the FA Cup twice - some outstanding football stats. Sanchez also had an incredible 2016-17 season where he scored 24 goals and provided 13 assists in the Premier League in an Arsenal side often struggling to perform at its highest level.
The following season, Sánchez started brightly again but wanted to leave Arsenal to compete for more trophies. This prompted a move to Manchester United, but it has all been downhill since for the Chilean.
Though frequent injury problems did not help him, his struggles at United were apparent. He struggled to fit into a football system built by Jose Mourinho that relied a lot more on working off the ball than with it, and consequently lost confidence. This led to him missing clear goal-scoring opportunities and making bad decisions on the pitch.
🗣️ Alexis Sanchez on his time at Manchester United:
"After the first session I got home and I told my family and my agent 'Can you not rip up the contract to go back to Arsenal?' They laughed. I told them there's something that doesn't sit right, it doesn't seem good." 😳
His torrid time at United was amplified by his abysmal stats of scoring five, assisting nine in 45 appearances and winning no trophies.
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal to Manchester United, 2018)
In 2018, United swapped Mkhitaryan for one of the biggest talents in the league. Putting him on £500k p/w. Little did they know, 32 games and a combined 9 G/A later, they’d be forcing him out of the club. https://t.co/9sN5LdX30s
Eventually, in the 2019-20 season, Sánchez forced a move to Inter Milan, where his time has been somewhat better. He went on to win the Scudetto with Inter under Antonio Conte and has overall scored 14 goals and provided 21 assists in 85 appearances for the Milan club.
Though the numbers are reasonable and Sánchez is playing at a decent level, he could never replicate or reach the potential he showed in north London.
#4. Philippe Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho was one of the most valuable players in world football. He housed excellent vision and could shoot from any distance, making him an ever-present goal threat.
Yet, after five successful years at Merseyside with Liverpool, where the Brazilian played 201games, scored 54 goals and provided 45 assists, Coutinho felt that he needed a step up in his football career, which led to a record €135 million transfer to FC Barcelona.
Coutinho had a positive start with the Catalans, scoring seven and assisting seven in his first 18 games. However, similar to Sánchez, things quickly fell off. In the 2018-19 season, Coutinho accumulated just seven-goal contributions in 34 games, and his performances were well below par.
As FC Barcelona struggled, so did Coutinho, and it never looked like he would get the support of the club when needed.
This poor run of form led to a loan transfer to Bayern Munich in 2019, where Coutinho rapidly gained form again and played at a similar level to his Liverpool days. However, once he returned to Barcelona, he seemed lost and struggled to get game time.
Furthermore, in 2020 Coutinho suffered a rupture of his meniscus, leading to him missing 33 football games over seven months.
🔄 (COUTINHO): After the holidays Xavi will inform Philippe Coutinho that he won't have regular minutes.
• Barça believe that he could only leave on loan.
• Coutinho doesn't want to move to Newcastle. His agents prefer a move to Arsenal.
Via (🟠): Lluís Miguelsanz [sport] https://t.co/zUcFwRZWMM
Coutinho in 2018 was valued at €150 million, but three years later, that number now stands at a mere 20 million. A poor run of form and injuries in a struggling team would never help Coutinho get back to his best.
But what is surprising is just how steep the decline has been for a player housing so much skill and quality.
❗️If Coutinho decides to stay at Barça next month, his chances of going to the Qatar World Cup with Brazil are practically reduced to zero.
― SPORT https://t.co/4JsT3bnc4d
At 29, Coutinho still has quite a few years ahead of him. If he can stay fit, it will be interesting to see if he can recreate the magic he has shown in the past, but to say his decline was quick might still be an understatement.