Arsene Wenger has for a number of years put faith in the young, up and coming players at Arsenal, which has resulted in many players enjoying successful careers. From Ashley Cole to Cesc Fabregas there have been many success stories, regardless of the players’ loyalty to Arsenal. The current crop of players boasts quite a few players that have risen from the youth ranks too such as Jack Wilshere, Hector Bellerin, Kieran Gibbs and Wojciech Szczesny to name a few.
Unfortunately there have been plenty of players with huge amounts of potential but they never realised it. Here we look at some of the players that could have been world class yet spurned their talents.
1. Nicolas Anelka
Here we have a player who burst on to the scene in the 1997/1998 season when Arsenal legend Ian Wright got injured during the campaign. Anelka took his chance and scored his first goal in the home game against Manchester United in a 3-2 win, going on to have a successful second season at the club becoming the top scorer and winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
He pushed for a move away in the summer or 1999 and got his wish when he signed for Real Madrid on the 2nd of August. He had his troubles at Real Madrid which resulted in him returning to PSG, the club Arsenal signed him from. The player would never rediscover the form he showed at Arsenal and moved from club to club throughout his career. Anelka later said he regretted leaving Arsenal and he believed he would have made a bigger impact in football had he stayed.
2. Jermaine Pennant
When Arsenal signed this youngster for £2m as a 15-year-old trainee it was the British record. Pennant became a hard player to manage as he would often turn up late for training and have disciplinary problems. He made few starts for the club but one notable appearance was his full league debut against Southampton where he scored a hat-trick. Sadly those were his only league goals for the club during a seven-year spell. He spent time out on loan but ultimately Wenger decided to sell the player. He has spent time at various clubs and never hit the heights he most certainly could have.
3. Henri Lansbury
Henri Lansbury had been described by many to have been a very big prospect with bags of potential. Arsene himself said Lansbury “will be a big player”. He had even been on the books at Arsenal from the tender age of eight. Numerous loan spells for a youngster is nothing new, players go out on loan all the time to gain the necessary experience and mental strength to deal with the pressures of being a first teamer at Arsenal. Regrettably not all players take their chance to learn and improve as Henri had many mediocre spells with clubs. He was finally sold to Nottingham Forest never quite becoming what Arsene had hoped he would.
4. David Bentley
Another player at the club from a young age; Bentley signed as a thirteen-year-old. The English midfielder admitted to a gambling addiction during the early stages of his career which could answer for his lack of motivation and enthusiasm for working on his game. He also stated he fell out of love with football during this period. He bounced between clubs, without making much of an impact, for a number of years but the player decided enough was enough and retired at the age of 29.
5. Jeremie Aliadiere
Signed by Arsene at the age of 16, Aliadiere had huge amounts of potential. He managed a few first team appearances but never took his chance. He was a player that always looked out of his depth in the first team. He even spent one season on loan with three separate clubs, each spell either hampered by injury or a lack of first team opportunities. Aliadiere’s six years at the club came to an end when he signed for Middlesbrough for £2.5m. He now plays for Qatari side Umm Salal.
