13 wonderkids who completed dream transfers but never played a single match
As a number of wonderkids find themselves linked with summer moves, it's worth remembering that a dream transfer is no guarantee of success down the line.
Premier League giants including Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal will all be on the lookout for reinforcements. European big-hitters Real Madrid and Barcelona have also been linked with big-spending summers, while other Champions League contenders will be building for the present and the future.
A number of wonderkids will be on the market, with some - like Brazilian starlet Endrick - having already committed their future to a new club. The teenager will be confident of minutes when he finally links up with Real Madrid, but others weren't so lucky, and Mirror Football has taken a closer look at some of those forced to carry on their career elsewhere.
Dale Jennings (Bayern Munich)
English winger Jennings attracted plenty of attention when he traded Tranmere for Bayern Munich. "When a club with the size and history of Bayern come in for you, it's the opportunity of a lifetime and I wish Dale all the best should the transfer happen,” Tranmere boss Les Parry said at the time.
The winger's start to life in Bavaria was an injury-hit one, though, and he never fulfilled his potential with Bayern after suffering knee ligament damage just a few months into his time with the club. He played multiple times for the reserves, but never followed contemporaries Emre Can and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in turning that into a top-level career.
Marcel Sabitzer completes Man Utd transfer after last-minute deadline day dash
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Dale Jennings had some joy at Barnsley after leaving Bayern (Getty Images)
Injuries hampered Jennings throughout his career, while his family also faced a cancer diagnosis for daughter Mila which he says made football "irrelevant". "It’s unbelievable what she’s been through for a little kid," he dolt The Athletic in 2021. "Makes me feel embarrassed for feeling bad for myself when my knee was injured."
Keirrison (Barcelona)
A star in his native Brazil, Keirrison was just a few games into his Palmeiras career when Barcelona came calling. The forward had already thrived as a teenager with Coritiba, but never got a chance to show a succession of Barca managers what he could do on the pitch.
“I have watched Romario and Ronaldo play for them in the past and that made me aspire to want to play for a great club like Barca," he said upon joining. "I have also dreamed about playing alongside someone like Lionel Messi one day.”
While Keirrison was handed five separate loan spells, he never played for Barca's senior side. He eventually returned to Brazil, but is now long retired at the age of just 34.
Tom Taiwo (Chelsea)
Taiwo and team-mate Michael Woods joined Chelsea in a double swoop which infuriated Leeds United. However, while Woods made a couple of cup appearances for the Blues, Taiwo didn't even manage that.
Tom Taiwo ended up retiring at 29 (Getty Images)"I was disappointed, but I also have to look back and say I wasn't good enough," Taiwo later told The BBC. "That can be quite a painful thing to say.
"As a young footballer, you can be quite blinded at times. It was the first time in my life I'd ever suffered a real setback. I had to face the fact that I wasn't as good as I hoped I'd be."
The midfielder would go on to rack up hundreds of games in England and Scotland, but never made his mark on the Premier League south of the border. He retired aged 29 after injuries blighted his later career.
Man Utd deadline day live updates as Sabitzer completes loan move
Kerlon (Inter Milan)
Kerlon, he of seal dribble fame, earned a dream move to Inter Milan after impressing for Cruzeiro. Unfortunately for him, a Jose Mourinho side - as Inter would soon become - isn't always the best environment for a wonderkid, however talented.
“I remember arriving one day and seeing Mourinho calling about eight to 10 players inside a room,” Kerlon later told FourFourTwo when recalling the end of his Serie A dream. “I was sitting outside the room. After speaking to them, Mourinho called me and said he wanted to talk to me privately.
"He asked me if I spoke Italian, and I said, ‘Of course, but if you want we can talk in Portuguese’ – after all, it’s our native language. 'We're in Italy so we're going to speak Italian’ he replied, then told me I wasn't part of his plans either."
Louie Barry (Barcelona)
Louie Barry's Barcelona spell was short-lived (Getty Images)There aren't too many English talents who make it to Barcelona, but Louie Barry was one of them. The youngster was just 16 when he joined Barca from West Brom in 2019, but left for Aston Villa just a few months later.
"He is still a very young man but as he's developed, he's always been one player that you always recognise as having outstanding attributes," academy manager Mark Harrison said after completing the signing. "He's got a fantastic mentality. He's desperate to do well for this football club."
Barry scored on his Villa debut against Liverpool in the FA Cup, but hasn't added to that one appearance. The England youth international is still just 19, though, and has been sent on loan to lower-league sides on multiple occasions as he builds back towards a potential top-flight career.
Marcus McGuane (Barcelona)
Another Barca recruit, McGuane turned out for the B team a number of times after joining from Arsenal as a teenager. He didn't manage a competitive appearance for the senior side, though he did pull on the famous shirt in a Catalan Super Cup game.
A €25m buyout clause suggested Barca had high hopes for the England youth international, even if he started out for the second string. It never happened for him at Camp Nou, though, and his 24 games for Barca B weren't accompanied by any for the seniors.
Marcus McGuane is now back in England (Getty Images)McGuane returned to England with a move to Nottingham Forest in 2020, but didn't make a dent on their first-team either. He has had more success at Oxford United, for whom he turned out against former club Arsenal in this season's FA Cup.
Eero Markkanen (Real Madrid)
Barcelona and rivals Real Madrid have both picked up highly-rated foreign talents for their second-string. Finnish striker Markkanen was 23 when he joined, rather than a teenager, but had scored a goal every 127 minutes for Swedish club AIK.
According to Reuters, the Finn was earmarked by Zinedine Zidane, becoming the Frenchman's first signing for the 'Castilla' team. Markkanen described the switch as "a dream come true" but failed to parlay it into first-team minutes.
Now 31, Markkanen is back in Finland with Gnistan. He scored three goals in his team's run to the Ykkonen Cup - for teams in the second tier - and is now aiming to help his team earn promotion.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Man Utd)
While Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is regularly linked with a Premier League move, his brother has already spent time in England. Vanja, a goalkeeper, joined Man Utd as a teenager but left after a year.
Milinkovic-Savic played at the 2022 World Cup but never got his Man Utd chance (Pavel Golovkin/AP/REX/Shutterstock)The 6'8" giant joined in a time of flux for United, with Louis van Gaal replacing David Moyes as manager. With work permit issues preventing him joining up with the squad after a year on loan with former club Vojvodina, he was on the move again.
Milinkovic-Savic has since developed into a regular in Serie A, keeping goal for Torino and establishing himself in the team after a couple of loan spells. He also kept goal for Serbia at the 2022 World Cup, with his brother playing further forward, though they failed to make it out of a tough group.
Angelo Henriquez (Man Utd)
A few years before Milinkovic-Savic joined United, Chilean striker Henriquez made a smilar move. He didn't immediately take his place in Sir Alex Ferguson's squad after starring for Universidad de Chile, but instead started out in the under-23 side before joining Wigan on loan in January.
Henriquez scored on his debut for Roberto Martinez's side, but only managed four league appearances as the Latics battled unsuccessfully against the drop. He was also part of the matchday squad for the FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, but Martinez kept him on the bench.
"I am fulfilling a dream that I have had for a long time and I will be able to realise it soon," Henriquez told La Tercera (via Tribal Football ) upon completing his United switch. "I will meet with Alex Ferguson on Wednesday and talk about what he wants from me. I cannot waste this opportunity because it is something I've wanted all my life."
Unfortunately, by the time he returned from the Wigan loan, Ferguson had retired. Henriquez never got a chance to prove himself at Old Trafford, but has scored goals in Spain, Croatia and Poland in a nomadic career.
Allan (Liverpool)
Allan has thrived in Brazil since leaving Liverpool (Gledston Tavares/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)One of Brendan Rodgers' final Liverpool signings, Allan arrived as a Brazilian star-in-the-making. Work permit issues put paid to him thriving at Anfield, though, with several loan moves following.
The diminutive midfielder picked up minutes in Finland, Belgium, Germany and Cyprus, but never in England. He has now returned to Brazil, where he is a big part of Atletico Mineiro's squad and featured in a run to the quarter-finals of last season's Copa Libertadores.
“I needed to return to Brazil to be close to my family and friends as it was a tough time not being able to play for Liverpool," he told The Athletic in 2022. "I felt like it was the last bullet in the gun. I had to be successful in Brazil or run the risk of disappearing altogether.
“I wanted to stay and if it was down to me I would still be at Liverpool. I did not want to go anywhere else. I wanted to stay there especially because of the friends I made like Firmino, but returning to Brazil proved to be the right decision."
Ben Greenhalgh (Inter Milan)
Greenhalgh earned a dream move to Inter after winning a TV talent show, giving him the chance to train with some top Serie A talents. Unfortunately for the Englishman, though, that's as far as he got.
"I started running at... Lucio and my legs turned to jelly," he told The BBC years later. "I remember getting a pass off Ricardo Quaresma. I was 17 and 18 at the time."
Eventually, after getting some minutes in Italy during a loan at Como, he returned to England. Now 30 years of age, he plays his club football for non-league Margate.
Nathan (Chelsea)
Part of a busy season of spending at Stamford Bridge, Nathan joined fellow Brazilian Kenedy in West London in 2015. However, while his compatriot picked up some first-team minutes that season, the former Atletico Paranaense starlet was loaned out to Vitesse.
Nathan had a number of stints out on loan (VI Images via Getty Images)Others, like Mason Mount, have done enough at Vitesse to earn a senior shot. Nathan, however, spent two years in the Eredivisie before spending more time out on loan.
The midfielder was 19 when he joined Chelsea and 24 when he made a permanent exit having never played a competitive minute for the London club. After a stint with Atletico Mineiro, where he counted Allan among his team-mates, he moved to Gremio earlier this month.
Taiwo Awoniyi (Liverpool)
Awoniyi was another victim of English football's work permit rules. The Nigerian joined Liverpool in 2015 with a view to developing into a first-team option, but he never received that opportunity.
The striker had a number of loans, mostly in Belgium and Germany, before making a permanent switch to Union Berlin in 2021. A 15-goal Bundesliga season earned him his Premier League chance at long last, with Nottingham Forest snapping him up, and inevitably he netted the winner against Jurgen Klopp's side in October.
"For me I think it makes me what I am today," Awoniyi said of his multiple loan spells in an interview with Union Berlin club media in 2020. "In every place I've been to I've gained one or two things."
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