Players Who Fell Off A Cliff

Bit of a different article today. Instead of talking about title races, European finals etc I thought I would compile a tiny list of players who seemed to be on the verge of taking the EPL by storm but then fell off a cliff (metaphore) and did nothing.

Feel free to add to my list and share your opinions, these are from roughly the 2007-2009 era and I will list a couple that I thought would go on to really be top players but didn't step up.

*in no order*

1) David Bentley

Watching David Bentley play for Blackburn from 2006-2008 was a pleasure. The guy honestly had shades of Beckham in his game; a right winger who wasn't that fast but had a superb cross, passing ability and free kick delivery. After putting up impressive numbers for a few years at Blackburn, Spurs came calling and what seemed like a great move went nowhere. Apart from a super goal in a NLD, Bentley never did anything for Spurs and retired by the time he was 29. I was shocked this guy never went on to become an England regular and top player, he looked like he had it all!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2329850/David-Bentley-is-David-Beckhams-natural-heir.html

2) Amir Zaki

The Egyptian striker arrived in the EPL on loan at Wigan in the summer of 2008. Let's just be honest, nobody knew who the hell he was but fast forward a couple of months and Wigan looked like they had the bargain of the season. Fast, strong, powerful and with all types of goals in his portfolio it was almost ridiculous that lowly Wigan (sorry Wigan) had managed to get a player this good. He soon shot to the top of the league's goal scoring charts, Real Madrid were linked with him and then his form declined completely. By the end of the season even Steve Bruce didn't want him! Mad because he looked born to play as a number 9 in the EPL.

https://www.kingfut.com/2015/11/20/amr-zaki-i-had-offers-from-real-madrid-and-liverpool/