Football players who had their careers ruined by injuries

• Many players’ careers have been cut short due to nagging injuries that have obstructed them from reaching their full potential
• England fans lament the injuries that cost them two of their most promising players, Wilshere and striker Daniel Sturridge
• When Hazard joined Real Madrid in 2019, he was one of the world’s best players but his value has gone down due to a string of injuries

Injuries in sports have always been a significant obstacle to players’ careers. Great players have suffered and gone on to suffer injuries that have slowed their incredible growth.

We look at fine players whose football career was ruined by injuries.

Andy Carroll

Andy Carroll. Photo: Getty Images

Carroll’s first entire season as a starter for Newcastle came in 2009/10 when the club won a promotion from the Championship to the Premier League after a year out.

Carroll was Newcastle’s top scorer in 2009/10, with 17 goals, and he continued his rise the following season, scoring 11 goals in 19 Premier League games.

Carroll became the most costly British player of all time with a £35 million move to Liverpool in the January transfer window.

While he was ineffective on Merseyside, he was given a new home in East London when he permanently moved to West Ham in 2013/14.

Carroll was only 25 years old at the time, but injuries hit the big man hard and slowly took their toll, as he only made 29 league appearances in his first two seasons at West Ham and only played more than 20 league games twice in his career.

Carroll was impossible to play on his day, but knee and ankle injuries hampered what could have been a promising future for the striker.

Alexandre Pato

Alexandre Pato. Photo: Getty Images

Pato made an immediate impact after joining AC Milan in 2007. In his first season, he scored nine goals in 20 games and then 18 goals in 42 games, earning him the Golden Boy and Serie A Young Footballer of the Year awards.

As a striker, Alexandre Pato‘s pace and automatic movement reminded me of Michael Owen. After guiding Milan to the summit with 14 goals in 25 games, he quickly became a league champion, finishing the season as their joint-top scorer.

However, things did not improve as injuries limited him to 11 league appearances and one goal the following season. He only made four appearances the following season before leaving Milan to rejoin Corinthians in Brazil.

Since then, the forward has moved from Brazil to England, where he briefly played for Chelsea, to China, and back to Brazil with Sao Paulo before agreeing to end his contract.

It’s a sad story for a young player who had the universe at his feet but was unable to fulfil what was his destiny.

Daniel Sturridge

Daniel Sturridge. Photo: The Sun

Liverpool fans know Daniel Sturridge’s potential to become one of the best strikers in the game and how that plan was cruelly derailed due to injury.

Sturridge joined Liverpool from Chelsea in January 2013 as a 23-year-old eager to establish himself as a regular starter, and boy did he succeed.

Sturridge started his Liverpool career with ten goals in 14 league appearances, but it wasn’t until the following season that the real magic happened.

He scored 21 goals for Liverpool as they nearly missed out on the Premier League title in a saddening season for Liverpool fans but also one of the most exciting.

His partnership with Luis Suarez was unplayable in most games, and Sturridge established himself as one of the best strikers in the league with his performances.

When Suarez left Liverpool for Barcelona in the summer of 2014, it was Sturridge’s time to make Liverpool “his team.”

Injury, however, had other plans, and Sturridge was limited to just 12 league appearances in the 2014/15 season and 14 in the 2015/16 season.

Sturridge’s physical appearance changed as a result of his injuries. The constant muscle injuries meant he no longer had the speed to race in behind defences and score goals, a style of scoring Sturridge excelled at in the 2013/14 season.

That meant less reliance on Sturridge and his inability to fit into Jurgen Klopp’s philosophy.

In his final three years at Liverpool, Sturridge was nothing more than an impact sub who struggled; he scored seven goals in 47 league games in his last three years.

Jack Wilshere

Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere injured during a match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Emirates Stadium on November 22, 2014. Photo: Getty Images

At 19, Jack Wilshere delivered an all-time outstanding performance against Barcelona in Arsenal’s 2-1 victory.

The Englishman dominated at the Emirates, outplaying Xavi and Andres Iniesta, two of this generation’s most prominent and best midfielders.

Wilshere was named PFA Young Player of the Year and named to the 2010-11 PFA Team of the Year at 20.

Wilshere’s injury merry-go-round began with a meniscal tear ankle injury before the 2011-12 season, and he suffered numerous ankle injuries throughout his career.

The injuries implied Wilshere could never have a lengthy run of games to impress, and stability was always an issue.

Ronaldo

Knee injuries stopped Ronaldo from breaking records. Photo: Getty Images

He is considered to be one of the best strikers of his generation. Many people believe that they would have enjoyed to see how his career would have turned out if he had realised his full potential.

Despite being on the injury list all the time, the Brazilian still was able to reapsomething out of his career