What are the factors that make players who excelled in their youth vanish and end up in oblivion?

In the last 20 years, players like Robinho, Fernando Gago, and Marlos Moreno, among others, have shone in South America, but end up failing in Europe. The lack of mentality, accompaniment and overexposure in the media may be the reasons why these young people end up being unfulfilled promises of world football.

Leer en español: Promesas del fútbol latinoamericano que no cumplieron con las expectativas

Taking the world with your hands is not so easy

Several young people of great talent have made the leap to the best teams in the world, so they believe they have reached the peak of their career in a single attempt. However, the most difficult thing is not getting to a giant club, but staying, and it seems that that is exactly what young promises do not know.

Leja em português: As promessas do futebol latino-americanos que não corresponderam às expectativas

Players like Alexandre Pato, Robinho, Saviola, Fernando Gago, and Giovani dos Santos arrived at clubs like Milan, Real Madrid, and Barcelona, ​​and although it is true that they stood out as soon as they arrived, they were diluted to the point of going out the back door of each of them.

The Brazilian Pato came to Milan in 2007 with only 17 years. The striker maintained an acceptable level for four seasons, but then slowly faded to the point of having to return to his native Brazil. Since then he played in up to 5 teams and currently plays in the Tianjin Quanjian of China.

Robinho was another Brazilian promise who disappointed soccer fans. He arrived at Real Madrid at the age of 21 as "the new Pelé", but he did not succeed in the white club. He left the merengue club and has been part of up to 6 clubs in different parts of the world.

Saviola and Fernando Gago were great promises of Argentine football at the time. Saviola came to Barcelona at age 19, but never managed to succeed in the club culé, he left and wandered up to 8 different teams. Fernando Gago, on the other hand, arrived at Real Madrid at 20, but never reached the title. He left the club, played in other European teams and returned to Argentina in 2013.

Another young talent that was diluted was the Mexican Giovani dos Santos, who belonged to FC Barcelona from the age of 12 in the lower categories of the club. The Mexican projected a great career, but he was only in the professional team of the club culé one season. Then it circulated in 7 teams until today.

The press can destabilize

The press is accustomed to creating an environment that tends to engross young players, destabilizing their minds and their future. Marlos Moreno, Colombian promise, verifies that the press can inflate a player so much to the point of disturbing him.

Moreno stood out for his fast and skillful style of play, and the press, in his eagerness to enlarge it and sell content, compared him to Colombian legend Faustino Asprilla when Moreno was 19 years old. "They say we have a similarity in the game, but with the goals I have in the short and long term I think I will be better than Asprilla", said the young Colombian in 2016.

Moreno's career showed that those words were very far from reality, because although the player was bought by Manchester City of England, he has wandered as a loan in clubs like Deportivo La Coruna and Girona in Spain, and in the Flamengo of Brazil. He is far from approaching Asprilla's level.

LatinAmerican Post | Javier Aldana

Translated from "Promesas del fútbol latinoamericano que no cumplieron con las expectativas"