#2 THIERRY HENRY He has rightly earned the title as the King of Arsenal, but during his Top five players who went formative years, rarely anyone would’ve expected the extent of success Thierry Henry would go on to achieve in his career. He had enjoyed a decent spell at Monaco but a move to Juventus was where it all went wrong, and he was subsequently branded as overrated, and as a failure by many in the football world. from hopeless to hero The striker was played on the flanks under immense pressure to score goals and failed to live up to the hype. He netted only thrice in 16 appearances in his only season for the Bianconceri. Thierry Henry struggled at Juventus before becoming a sensation at Arsenal #4 VICTOR MOSES But, a change of fortunes followed when he When we see the countless legends the beautiful game has churned out, we always joined Arsenal. Henry’s exploits in England fall for their stardom. However, there is just a handful of us that try to delve into their Victor Moses has been a became the stuff of legend as the Frenchman past and learn about the hurdles they have overcome before earning a name for them- revelation in the football spearheaded Wenger’s Arsenal to a number selves. world under Antonio of accolades, including the golden Premier Also, their fame and limelight come at a heavy price. As much as they are adored Conte. Not many would League trophy that the Gunners won as The during their best days, they receive equally brutal criticism while not performing to have thought that a player Invincibles. the expected standards. who had three dismal Adding to that, he also won the Golden It takes a strong gut to swallow the criticism that players are often subject to, and loan spells would become Boot four times in eight seasons with the not everyone succeeds in fighting and proving their haters wrong. It takes a combina- the influential figure that club and also became the club’s all-time top tion of hard work, courage and a never-say-die attitude to silence your critics and he is at Stamford scorer with 175 goals. that’s what earns you loads of respect. Bridge today. A move to Barcelona didn’t work out as Here are 5 such footballers who went to become indispensable for their respective Perhaps it is well as he had would’ve expected on a per- clubs after being branded as failures in the early stages of their respective careers: the company of sonal level. But, his achievements in England players like had done enough to place the Frenchman Juan Mata, amongst the greatest strikers ever to grace Thierry Henry went from being a failure at #5 JAMIE VARDY Eden Victor Moses has been a revelation the game. Juventus to having a statue of himself Hazard, for Chelsea under Antonio Conte outside the Emirates The tale of Jamie Vardy’s rise as a footballer is the Oscar and closest you can get to a fairytale in the sport. Who in Willian that their wildest dreams could have imagined a factory denied him the time needed to develop as a footballer. worker and a non-league player to be the spearhead The loans to Arsenal, Liverpool and West Ham did no #1 GARETH BALE of a title-winning team in England? good and he was looked upon as another wasted talent by To start with, the Englishman was released by The Blues. None can tell you how great it feels to become a Sheffield United when he was sixteen in 2006. The However, a man-of-the-match performance against hero from a zero better than Gareth Bale. club deemed him as a below-par player and he went Hull City in the right wing-back position in a 3-4-3 format A £10 million signing from Southampton in 2097, on to choose a more traditional line of work, func- was enough for Chelsea to see how good he was and the he had to wait for a total of 25 games before he tasted tioning as a technician who made medical splints in potential he possessed. Chelsea won the league that his first victory in a Tottenham shirt. a factory. season and Victor Moses was one of their stand-out In all those torrid times he faced, the Welshman His days turned around when he scored 31 goals in performers. When you look at him today, you can hardly became the subject of mockery by his own fans and his only season with Fleetwood Town, a third-tier imagine him to be a guy who was wrecked as a player just was branded as an unlucky jinx. Deemed as one of the Gareth Bale had to endure a 24-game worst transfers the club ever made, he was club. Leicester City came calling and snatched the two years ago. winless streak at Tottenham player for £1 million in 2012. on the verge of being shipped off to Bir- Four years later, Vardy’s rampant run of form #3 CIRO IMMOBILE mingham City in just a £3 million deal! saw him become the kingpin for the Foxes And look at him now. A three-time as they clinched their first ever Pre- After winning the Capocannoniere with Torino, little did Ciro Immo- UEFA Champions League winner, who is mier League title in season 2015- bile expect to go through a rough slide down the spiral when he joined widely regarded as one of the finest as 16. He netted 24 goals that Borussia Dortmund for €18 million in 2014. well as the fastest players of his genera- season in all competitions A lacklustre debut season saw the Italian being loaned out to tion. He has a trophy cabinet many can and also broke Ruud Van Sevilla and then to Torino for the next two seasons, where he failed to only dream of. And, his San Siro fairytale Nistelrooy’s long-standing resuscitate his career. needs no retelling, does it? record of scoring in con- The world had forgotten the Italian before he completed a turn- To this day, the Welshman’s fans still secutive league games, around at Lazio, joining the Biancocelesti in 2016. He netted 26 fondly remember that 4-3 loss to Inter netting 11 times in a row. times in 41 appearances and has been running riot this year as well, Milan and it wouldn’t be wrong to count Since then, the Eng- bagging the same number of goals in just 24 games. that game as one of the best games the lishman has been a top The second half of the season has only just started and club has ever played in the modern age. target for clubs like the 27-year-old is destined to make it big for Lazio, After all, that night saw the birth of a Manchester United and who are currently 4th in the Serie A race at the Galactico; a man who would eventually Jamie Vardy was the moment. Ciro Immobile is the perfect exam- make it to the highest echelons of the spearhead of Leicester Arsenal. If that ain’t a fairytale, what is? Ciro Immobile has been running ple of what a person can achieve with hard sport. - SK City’s title-winning campaign rampant in the Serie A this season work and a never-say-die attitude.