Five Premier League Wonderkids Who Failed To Live Up To Expectations (Part 7)

David Tully

3 years ago

Categories: Galleries, West Ham United News

Tags: Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea, Everton, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, West Ham, Wolves

As we continue our series looking at the wonderkids who never quite met expectations, we profile five more players who didn’t make the grade in the Premier League.

Youngsters may struggle to reach their potential for a number of reasons, with off the field problems and other factors coming into play.

For this list, we have taken a look at a number of players who had very different experiences coming through the ranks at Premier League clubs.

Press the next page as we go through five starlets who struggled to make an impact in the English top flight.

Jose Baxter (Everton)

The attacking midfielder was widely regarded as one of the best young talents in the country for a brief period and he was the second youngest ever debutant in the Premier League when he faced Blackburn Rovers in 2008.

However, he never made the breakthrough into Everton’s first team and he has spent most of his professional career in the lower leagues with Oldham, Sheffield United and Plymouth. He is currently playing in the second tier of US football for Memphis 901.

Fran Merida (Arsenal)

The Spaniard came through the ranks at the Gunners much the same way as Cesc Fabregas, being head-hunted from Barcelona before being handed his senior debut in 2007 against Newcastle in the League Cup.

Merida made 16 appearances during a three year period at the Emirates, where he also went out on loan to Real Sociedad. He left for Atletico Madrid when his contract expired in 2010. The midfielder’s best spell was a four year period at Osasuna before he moved to Espanyol in August.

Rodrigo Possebon (Manchester United)

United scout John Calvert-Toulmin spotted the Brazilian midfielder whilst also keeping tabs on the Silva brothers, Rafael and Fabio. On his recommendation, United signed Possebon from Internacional before he played his first professional game.

During his first year at Old Trafford, in the 2008/09 season, he made eight appearances for the Red Devils, but he was shipped out on loan to Braga the next year. He returned on a permanent basis to Brazil in 2010, with Santos, and he then had a number of spells at different clubs which proved to be unsuccessful.

Zeki Fryers (Manchester United, Tottenham and Crystal Palace)

The left-back came through the youth academy at United but he left on a free transfer for Standard Liege in 2012 after failing to agree a new contract. He quickly returned to England when Spurs took a keen interest, with the London club paying £3m to sign him.

At the time, Sir Alex Ferguson accused Tottenham of “blatant manipulation” of the rules, stating Fryers had been targeted before he left Old Trafford. However, the reality was probably less cloak and danger, with the defender said to have left Belgium because he was homesick. After all that furore, though, the fullback never made the breakthrough at Premier League level, even after a switch to Crystal Palace. He has spent the last two years at Swindon.

David Bellion (Sunderland, Manchester United and West Ham)

The Frenchman was one of the few Sunderland players to come out with any credit when the Black Cats were relegated in 2003 on just 19 points, and he was subsequently snapped up by Manchester United.

However, after a promising start in front of goal, Bellion never really convinced Ferguson, and he was shipped out on loan to West Ham in 2005. He barely featured for the Hammers and he subsequently moved to Nice. The striker spent most of the remaining years of his career in France, including a moderately successful period with Bordeaux.