Football: Following their Fathers’ Footsteps

• A new generation of football players across Europe is attempting to carve out a name for themselves while balancing the pressure of their successful fathers.
• They still have a long way to go in their careers.
  
• These football players want to emulate their father’s success.

Millions of young children worldwide want to carry on their parents‘ legacy when they grow up, and it appears that football is no different.

However, a new generation of football players across Europe is attempting to carve out a name for themselves while balancing the pressure of their successful fathers.

They still have a long way to go in their careers, even though some are doing better than others.

These football players, who are currently competing in Europe, want to emulate their father’s success.

Justin Kluivert 

Father and Son duo; Justin Kluivert and Patrick Kluivert .|PHOTO: Goal|

Justin Kluivert went through the Ajax academy in the same manner as his father, Patrick.

The Dutchman played 56 times across all competitions for Ajax after making his first-team debut in 2017 and scoring 13 goals.

The 23-year-performance old’s in 2018 earned him a spot in the Dutch team, where he went on to win his first cap against Portugal, making the Kluiverts the first teenage father-son debutants in Dutch history.

Kluivert joined A.S. Roma in the 2018 summer transfer window for £15.16 million, but his development has slowed somewhat after spending the previous and current seasons on loan at Nice and Valencia.

Patrick Kluivert, a former striker for Ajax and Barcelona, is regarded as a football legend in the Netherlands and abroad. He scored 199 goals in his club career and won championships in Spain and the Netherlands, including the Champions League with Ajax in 1995.

James Carragher

A Wigan defender James is the son of Jamie, a former mainstay of Liverpool.

A well-known analyst and co-commentator on Sky Sports Premier League coverage, Carragher Senior spent his entire career at Anfield.

James spent four years in the Latics’ youth system before signing his first senior contract.

When he made his senior debut in an EFL Cup game, ex-England striker Kevin Phillips praised him and called him “incredible.”

However, he is currently out due to a knee injury he suffered during an EFL Trophy match and had to be carried off.

Isaac Drogba

Drogba with his Son Isaac.|PHOTO: ESPN|

Isaac Drogba, another well-known footballer’s son associated with Guingamp, joined the French team in 2018 after graduating from the Chelsea academy. He has since left, however, and is now playing for Académica Coimbra B in Portugal.

Isaac follows in his father Didier Drogba’s footsteps by enrolling in the Ligue 2 team’s academy. Didier Drogba played 50 times for Guingamp before moving on to Marseille and then Chelsea.

One of the best strikers in modern football, Didier Drogba won most of his awards during two stints with Chelsea, including four Premier League championships, four FA Cups, three League Cups, and the Champions League, in which he beat Bayern Munich on penalties to win the match.

Timothy Weah 

Timothy Weah, born and raised in the United States, relocated to France in 2014 and joined the Paris Saint-Germain youth team before joining the first team three years later.

The 21-year-old striker, who primarily competes for the club’s reserves and youth teams, made his first-team debut in March 2018 by coming off the bench in a 2-0 victory over Troyes. He then scored his first goal for the team against Monaco in the Trophee des Champions. The same month, he received his first senior call-up to the USMNT.

The teen spent the second half of the 2018–19 campaign on loan with Celtic, where he scored four goals in 17 games, but PSG did not remain confident in the youngster’s potential and sold him to fellow Ligue 1 team Lille in the summer of 2019, where he eventually won the league.

Federico Chiesa

Federico Chiesa is carrying on his father’s legacy at Fiorentina, much like Simeone.

The 24-year-old, the son of Italian legend Enrico, has excelled since making it through the Fiorentina academy in 2016 and has since been transferred to Juventus. Chiesa is well-regarded in Italy and made his international debut in a friendly match against Argentina in 2018. He later played a crucial role in Azzurri’s Euro 2020 victory.

Enrico, regarded as one of Italy’s most exciting and dynamic strikers in the mid-1990s, played for Fiorentina for three seasons (1999–2002), winning the Coppa Italia.

Erling Haaland

Haaland plays for Manchester City just like his father. Photo/ Eurosport.

Early in his career, Erling Braut Haaland played for Bryne and Molde in his native Norway, but his move to RB Salzburg in 2019 truly catapulted his career.

In 27 games for the Austrian club, the 21-year-old scored 29 goals, including eight in the Champions League that season, earning him a transfer to Dortmund.

His father also played for Manchester City, and due to his high goalscoring rate in Germany, he was transferred there this summer.

Alfi-Inge Haaland, whose career spanned defence, midfield, and forward positions for Bryne, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, and City, had a very different trajectory from his own. Haaland’s career effectively ended in the 2000–01 campaign after being tackled by Roy Keane.