Four Manchester United failed talents who were predicted great futures

24 October 2014 09:49

Title contenders or the ones battling for relegation, it's all the same when it comes to wonderkids who were once extraordinary, but can now only remember how it was in the bright past.

Liverpool, Chelsea, even Arsenal have been lucky to sign teenagers from all over the world, later to get disappointed by their unseen drop. Sir Alex Ferguson, the almost infallible gaffer, did too agreed some unprofitable transfers.

So, let's take a look at some players who have left or are still a part of United despite of disappearing from the Premiership stage.

Ben Amos

The 24-year-old goalie featured all England's youth national squads. Unfortunately, this United kid will never become the club's starting XI member. Why? There was always someone better than him and lack of quality is something that will haunt him all the way at Manchester.

When he first joined the senior team in 2008, veteran Edwin van der Sar was in charge. Absolutely no chance for Amos to have beaten the Dutch star. With that in mind, the Englishman was constantly sent out on loans. New goalkeeper arrivals of David de Gea and Anders Lindegaard pushed him back even further, without ever earning the wanted place in the team.

Federico Macheda

Current Cardiff player, Macheda was a Red Devil up until a few months ago. Lured away from Lazio academy in 2007, the Italian was given chances in the first team every once in a while. It only took 46 seconds to score versus Sunderland in the spring of 2009.

But as if those days are long gone. The 23-year-old enjoyed just two seasons at the club - 2008/09 and 2009/10, participating in 19 matches in the process. Everyone predicted a rich future for the forward who had, on a milestone of the career, joined Sampdoria on loan in January 2011.

His home country is where everything started to collapse. Sampdoria got relegated and Mancheda failed to shook the net even once in 14 caps. Thus the loan moves weren't so strange anymore, as he temporarily moved to five other teams.

Only earlier this year, he was transferred to the Welsh club who were managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Old Trafford legend, due to being released by the ex-Premieship champions.

Anderson

The Brazilian did good in both his home country and Portugal as a teenager. He made Selecao debut in June 2007 and was included for Dunga's Summer Olympics team in 2008. Maybe he would still be representing the national team if there wasn't for so many injuries in the red jersey.

During the 2011-12 season, he was ruled out from Benfica game following by one, which kept him out of the field for 21 matches. Furthermore, the midfielder was excluded for almost every league match until the season end.

The 26-year-old mostly came on from the bench the next season. Fergie, who enjoyed Anderson performances, had given him many chances in every of league seasons. So, the arrival of David Moyes who opted for other midfielders, had hit him really hard and he joined Fiorentina on loan.

With Moyes out of the door, most of his fans at home hoped in Anderson return under Louis van Gaal. It's now the end of October, and he recorded only one Premiership appearance and was even included in the u21 setup for one game. Sadly, injuries are often the ones who decide football careers.

Bebe

This winger was actually quite amusing at the Theatre of Dreams. He left fans speechless, but not for excellent performances, far from that. Most known for a Youtube video "The Bebe Crossing Show", he soon became a mockery of all Premier League lovers.

The match versus Wolverhampton Wanderers was one of few for the Portuguese who was fastly loaned to Besiktas in June 2011. Lisbon-born loanee only started to show quality at Pacos de Ferreira, which was his third temporary move.

Benfica signed him from United in July 2014, for impressing their manager Jorge Jesus while playing at Pacos where he scored 12 goals. The 24-year-old now performs as much as he did in England.

Source: DSG