Top 8 late bloomers in world football

For every footballing wonder kid that has failed to live up to his potential, there have been players who were seen to have had no chance of making the grade at a big club, but still managed to shine in the later stages of their career.Here are the 8 best ‘late bloomers’, who realised their potential at an age when many would have passed their peak.

#8 Dado Prso

He might have appeared in the UEFA Champions League final and accumulated 32 caps for Croatia, but Dado Prso was hardly a big prospect in his younger days, rising from obscurity rather quickly to become the Champions League’s joint-top scorer in one match with his 4 goals against Deportivo La Coruna.

Prso spent his early 20s playing in lower division and amateur French clubs along with working as a car mechanic, before then-Monaco manager Jean Tigana accidentally saw the striker play and signed him up for the Ligue 1 outfit.

Prso helped Monaco reach the Champions League final in 2004 with his 7 goals, and won the Scottish Premier League and League Cup with Rangers before retiring in 2007.