Top 10 players who left big clubs early and benefited from it!

Players who left big clubs early – Top 10

There are some big names in this list. We look at the top 10 players who left big clubs early in their careers and are now benefiting from it.

Top 10 players who left big clubs early and benefited from it

10. Adrien Rabiot (Manchester City)

Perhaps he was put off by the weather, but Rabiot didn’t seem too keen to stick around in Manchester in 2008 (mind you, he didn’t seem keen to stick around anywhere during his youth career). The midfielder spent just six months at Manchester City’s academy before returning home to France, with his mother later claiming that her son was mistreated.

Rabiot thought he’d got his own back when he scored against the Citizens in a crunch Champions League tie in April 2016. Unfortunately for the PSG man, though, Manuel Pellegrini’s side prevailed and advanced to the semi-finals. He’s just joined Juventus on a free after a bitter end to his career at PSG.

9. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (PSV)

He may be a fan favourite at Ajax, but Huntelaar actually began his career at fierce rivals PSV. Signed in 2000, the striker made his senior bow (and only appearance) under Guus Hiddink before heading out on loan to De Graafschap and AGOVV.

The Dutchman’s quest for regular football led him to Heerenveen on a permanent basis in 2004, and 39 goals in 60 games persuaded Ajax to fork out €9m for his services two years later.

8. Juan Mata (Real Madrid)

Mata is best associated with Valencia in Spain, so it’s easy to forget that his senior league debut came with Real Madrid Castilla in 2006. Ten goals in 39 matches sparked interest from Los Che, who signed the playmaker by triggering a release clause in his contract.

Mata then swapped Spain for England in 2011, joining Chelsea for £23.5m. Now he features for their rivals, Manchester United.

7. Alvaro Morata (Real Madrid)

Florentino Perez loves a buyback clause, and the Real Madrid chief wisely insisted on one when Morata moved to Juventus in 2014. Although the talented young forward was unable to unseat Karim Benzema in Madrid’s XI the first time around, he showed his quality by scoring in a number of big matches in Italy – including against Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.

Perez activated the buyback clause in June 2016, Morata netted 20 goals in all competitions and Chelsea duly paid £60m for his services. Good call, Florentino. The Spanish international now plays for Real’s arch city rivals, Atletico Madrid.

6. Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

August 2016 wasn’t the first time Pogba signed a contract with Manchester United, of course: the Frenchman initially joined the Red Devils in 2009, but his desire for first team-football led to his departure three years later.

The midfielder ended up at Juventus after Inter Milan and Roma turned down the chance to sign him, and spent four years in Turin before United spent an eye-watering £89.3m to bring him back to the north-west ahead of the 2016/17 campaign.

5. Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)

Coming up from the ranks of Borussia Dortmund’s youth academy, Marco Reus was once released by the German club after being considered too skinny in 2006 and was sold to Borussia Monchengladbach. The club told him that he was too thin to play at the highest level, needless to say the German international proved the club wrong.

Dortmund realized their mistake soon and rectified it by signing him again for €17m in 2011.

4. Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona)

Barcelona-born Fabregas did the unthinkable in 2003, ditching his boyhood club to join Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. But he became increasingly important to the north Londoners, making his debut aged 16 in 2003 and later being handed the club captaincy in 2009.

The chance to re-join Barcelona two years later was too good to turn down, but ultimately too good to be true: after three relatively unhappy years back home he returned to the Premier League with Chelsea in 2014. Monaco is his current destination.

3. Samuel Eto’o (Real Madrid)

Eto’o won three La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues at Barcelona, but his career began on the other side of the Clasico divide. The Cameroonian, who played just three times for Real Madrd in La Liga, spent time on loan at Leganes, Espanyol and Mallorca before joining the latter permanently in 2000.

Barça brought Eto’o to Catalonia four years later for €24m, and he went on to become a key player under both Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola, with two Champions League and three La Liga triumphs to his name.

2. Jadon Sancho (Manchester City)

Jadon Sancho left Manchester City to join Borussia Dortmund in 2017 after rejecting a contract at the Etihad. He joined Borussia Dortmund for €8m, and has gone on to score or assist 37 goals in 55 appearances at the Westfalonstadion. His form in the Bundesliga has seen him make his international debut for England, with the 19-year-old winning six caps so far.

The Citizens will be hoping to fix the mistake by bringing back the English striker, as they are one of the many clubs interested in his signature.

1. Gerard Pique (Manchester United)

In 2008, Sir Alex Ferguson had a decision to make: Jonny Evans or Gerard Pique? Hindsight means it was an easy decision, but at the time Pique was no world beater. Stuck behind the unflappable duo of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, the Barcelona-born defender opted to re-join his boyhood club in 2008.

At just £5 million, he proved a brilliant acquisition for Barça and collected just about every major honour available – including eight Spanish league titles and three in the Champions League.