Michael Owen To Manchester United: What About Other 'Finished' Players?

Some fans say that the new Red Devil is done as a player. Well, we've heard that about others. And it's not always true...

Jul 4, 2009 12:49:14 AM

Players

Michael Owen's completed move to Manchester United has brought about talk of a renaissance for a man whose career was said by some to be on an irrevocable downswing.

Will the Old Trafford atmosphere see him make a comeback to the big time? We can't say for sure yet - but we can look at some other players for hints.

Here's a list of ten other players who - rightly or wrongly - saw their late-career transfers greeted with scepticism...

Johan Cruyff - Feyenoord - 1983 - Age 36

The uncharitable would say that Cruyff's path towards retirement began in 1979 when he left Barcelona for the "elephant's graveyard" of North America, but four years later he was still going.

Having returned to Europe for a brief spell with Levante, he then came back to his first love - Ajax - for two distinguished years, lifting (yet another) two league titles.

His deal wasn't extended after that, but anyone who knew Cruyff knew that he was not the type to fade out of the game quietly. At least, not until he was ready. Revenge was exacted on his boyhood side as he did the unthinkable and signed for Feyenoord.

At the ripe old age of 36 this could have been the ultimate embarrassment for both player and club, but in fact Cruyff was in fine form as he netted eleven league goals and helped the Rotterdam side to the double.

In other words, Ajax wrote him off - and he responded in style.

Verdict: A superb signing for Ajax's arch-enemies, and another trophy for the old master himself.

Emerson - AC Milan - 2007 - Age 31

Emerson, capped 73 times for Brazil, has always looked older than his years, but this has never dampened either his enthusiasm or his talent, and although he was not a fan favourite at the Santiago Bernabeu, he was on a high as he lifted the 2006-07 Liga title with Real Madrid.

But the 'Puma's' time at Madrid, while distinguished, had come to its natural end. Once one of the world's most feared midfielders - his time at Roma still brings joy to those who remember it - he was now the wrong side of 30, and surplus to requirements for a club looking to rebuild.

Lining up for AC Milan shortly afterwards (well, you didn't need to be told where he ended up, did you?), it was clear that his best days were well and truly behind him. In a two year spell he racked up just thirty-odd appearances before his transfer was allowed to lapse.

Will the 'Puma' roar again as he gets ready to sign for Gremio?

Verdict: Finished in Europe, and a pointless piece of expenditure from Milan.

Paulo Futre - Atletico Madrid - 1997 - Age 32

Nowhere near as old as Cruyff, Futre's decline and fall was nonetheless much more pronounced.

The flair-filled winger was once the toast of Europe for Porto and Atletico Madrid, but after leaving the Spanish capital in 1993 he took on the role of a nomad, taking on five clubs in a little under four years.

Atleti took him back for one last chance, but a career's worth of knee injuries took their toll as Futre struggled to hit double-figures in appearances.

He left once more for Japan and ended his career there, with slightly more success.

Verdict: Atleti's continued infatuation with a Futre well past his best shows that you can have too much of a good thing. A poor signing.

Ronaldinho - AC Milan - 2008 - Age 28

They said he was finished. They said he had no appetite for the game. Like so many Brazilians before him, one of the greatest talents in football had burnt out when some journeymen were just getting started. Barcelona were well rid.

So they said. AC Milan, never one to refuse a bet if it involves an older gentleman, took Ronaldinho off Barca's hands for a significant fee last summer in a bid to show that the Brazilian still had 'it' - and that he'd best show it off at San Siro.

In fact the 'Gaucho' had a mixed campaign at Milan. Highlights included a derby-winning goal against Jose Mourinho's Inter in September; lowlights included much of what followed.

Verdict: It's too early to say. He has two years left on his current contract, and what happens now will largely depend on this pre-season. But those who said he's not the player he used to be surely have ammunition now...

David Beckham - AC Milan - 2009 - Age 33

When Beckham followed Ronaldinho to San Siro later that season, it was a bit of a reunion for high-profile Spain alumni. But while Ronaldinho had only just left Iberia, Beckham had been in Los Angeles since leaving Real Madrid since 2007.

The first football star to well and truly 'break America' had endured injury and difficult spells of form during his time in Los Angeles, and was seemingly unhappy with his sporting lot as he pleaded to be allowed to leave for Milan, whose interest had stunned some in Europe.

But when he arrived in Serie A, it was as though he was almost - almost - back to his very best. Granted, there were already hints that he was not a spent force as he excelled in an England shirt (this being the very reason he went to Milan - to force his way into the first eleven of Fabio Capello), but some even within the Milan dressing room doubted his capabilities, only to be proved very much incorrect.

Beckham's back at the Galaxy now, where he's enjoyed/endured a mixed reception. Milan wanted to keep him. Based on performances alone, it's plain to see why.

Verdict: It is abundantly clear that, when he is happy with his coach, his teammates, and himself, Beckham still has enough about him to verge on the world-class.

Thierry Henry - Barcelona - 2007 - Age 29

Perhaps the greatest player in the history of the Premier League, Henry had long since been on the agenda of Barcelona president Joan Laporta. When they finally signed him, though, it was with trepidation from some of the support.

For while Henry had completed season after successful season, even some Arsenal fans - those who'd never hear a word against him from an outsider - raised questions about his capabilities to play on at the same level as before.

His final season at the club was wrecked by massive injuries, and it seemed as though his Barca career would be as well, as he was compelled to play matches despite not having had a pre-season worthy of the name. A stomach injury that took to time to heal didn't help matters, either.

Indeed, Barcelona's 'Fantastic Four' of Messi, Eto'o, Henry and Ronaldinho was all too often just a fantastic one - two at a push - and the rest would be injured.

Nonetheless, there were some flashes of Henry's genius both in front of goal and when setting up others, and with a full summer of work behind him in 2008, his next season was to be a memorable one, with 19 league goals and a treble for Barca. Truly, he repaid the faith the club put in him.

Verdict: From zero to hero is pushing it a bit; from maybe-man to undisputed conqueror is not.

Kevin Keegan - Newcastle United - 2008

Not quite a player, but after three years out of the game, Keegan was summoned back home from his exile in Inverclyde to Tyneside to rescue his beloved Magpies from obscurity.

Newcastle were in disarray as new owner Mike Ashley's management structure - featuring an array of scouts and a sporting director in the form of Dennis Wise - made an absolute hash of the summer market, this after Keegan had overcome a poor start to help keep United up.

Keegan left in early September, citing what we'll politely call irreconcilable differences with Ashley and the hierarchy. Newcastle departed from the Premier League shortly thereafter.

Verdict: Tragi-comedy of the highest order. What possessed Ashley, except an attack of 'Geordie fever', to try this is unknown.

Laurent Blanc - Manchester United - 2001 - Age 35

A French World Cup winning defender, Blanc certainly had 'experienced' plastered all over his expanding forehead as he signed for Manchester United in 2001. Indeed, at the age of 35, his level of seniority was verging on the Biblical.

However, the main thing that Blanc's tenure at Old Trafford is remembered for is the amazing 'acrostic of defeat'.

United's first five defeats of the season were at the hands of:

Bolton Wanderers
Liverpool
Arsenal
Newcastle United
Chelsea

What does that spell? Certainly not a league title, as Blanc had to wait another year for that before retiring.

Verdict: Replacing Jaap Stam with Laurent Blanc's like swapping a Ferrari 599 GTB with a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. Yes, both are classy. Yes, both carry prestige. But one's able of hitting top speed in seconds while the other one belongs in a museum.

Deco - Chelsea - 2008 - Age 30

The Brazil-born attacking midfielder will always be remembered for being a core member of Jose Mourinho's miraculous Porto side that hoisted aloft the 2004 European Cup - a true story of a fairly modest club that rose to greatness without vast riches.

But a corollary of such stories is that such outfits never last, and thus it proved as Deco immediately departed for Barcelona.

His first season at Camp Nou was one of the most successful arrivals in Spain since that of tobacco, Deco winning over his critics with play that was both intelligent and dynamic.

But it wasn't to last. The Frank Rijkaard era ended with Deco out of contention, publicly unwilling to commit to a defensive midfield role - his sole remaining option to get into the side - and looking to leave.

Chelsea gave him the escape route he so clearly desired, the Portuguese international signing on to link up with Luiz Felipe Scolari, his former national team boss.

Fast-forward to the season's end, and he's looking to leave. Once again, he's publicly unhappy. And when Deco doesn't get what he wants...

Verdict: A player whose recent poor form is caused as much by his head as his feet. If Deco could rediscover his desire for victory he could succeed anywhere in the world. As it stands, he's a spent force, and probably will be for the rest of his career.

Mikael Silvestre - Arsenal - 2008 - Age 31

A Manchester United stalwart for almost a decade, Mikael Silvestre was an odd signing for Arsenal's Arsene Wenger. Known to have a seemingly innate distrust of experience where youth would suffice, he brought the Frenchman to London to presumably serve as a utility man.

Instead he's served largely as bench fodder, carving out a niche for himself neither in the middle or on the left-hand side of defence.

As it stands, he's done so little in an Arsenal shirt that there is remarkably little to say about him, except that it will take a massive turnaround for him to rediscover the days of old.

Verdict: Needless signing by Arsenal.

Ewan Macdonald, Goal.com

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